I LIBRARY Of CONGRES; 

4 UNITED STATES OF- AMERICA. 



:«5«3fi3«6^Me«5eS3Sas«5^ 



REPORT 



OF 



CHIEF ENGINEER J. W. KING, 



UNITED STATES NAVY, 



ON 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR AND THEIR ARMAMENT, NAVAL 

ADMINISTRATION AND ECONOMY, MARINE CONSTRUCTIONS, 

TORPEDO-WARFARE, DOCK-YARDS, ETC., ETC. 



it b 



SECOND EDITION, 

REVISED," ENLARGED, AND ILLUSTRATED. 



WASHINGTON: 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFIO 

1878. 



ft 




In the Senate of the United States, 

February 18, 1878. 
Resolved oy the Senate (the House of Representatives concurriny therein,) That there be 
printed 1,000 copies of the second edition of the report of Chief Engineer King on 
European ships of war, for the use of the Navy Department. 



(Si 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Navy Department, 
Washington, January 27, 1877. 
Sir : In compliance with a resolution of the Senate* passed on the 
26th instant, I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of Chief 
Engineer J. W. King, of the United States Navy, on European ships of 
war, &c. 

Yery respectfully, 

GEO. M. EOBESOX, 

Secretary of the Navy, 
Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, 

President pro tempore of the United States Senate. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

Page. 

Letters 15 

Preface to the second edition 17 

Introduction 19 

The British navy 21 

Admiralty designs for ships of war 23 

PART II. 

The Inflexible. — Mastless, armored, sea-going ships. Hull and appendages. 
Defense. Turrets. Armament. Trials of the 81-ton gun. The new 80-ton 
gun. Motive machinery. Boilers. Rig. Weights. Cost. Conclusions. 
Stability of the Inflexible 25 

PART III. 

The Devastation. — Design. Alterations. Dimensions and weights. Consumption 
of coal. Motive machinery. Official trials of machinery, guns, and sea-going 
qualities 51 

PART IV. 

The Thunderer. — Design. Machinery. Thorough seaworthiness. Armament. 

Hydraulic machinery for working guns 63 

The Dreadnought. — Design. Details of turret. Hull. Armament. Motive and 
other machinery. Trials of the 38-ton gun. The Armstrong 39-ten breech- 
loading gun 70 

PART V. 

Broadside armored ships 77 

The Audacious class. — Audacious, Iron Duke, Invincible, Triumph, and Swiftsure .. 81 
The Alexandra. — Design. Description of hull. Motive machinery. Boilers. 

Observations 83 

PART VI. 

The Teme'raire. — Design. Dimensions. Armament. Motive machinery. Boilers. 
Engines, exclusive of motive machinery. Official trials of the motive machin- 
ery. Comparison of the engines of the Dreadnought, Alexandra, and Temeraire. 
Electric light. System of working the barbette-guns 89 

The Shannon. — Peculiarities of design. Armor-belt. Construction of hull. Arma- 
ment. Motive machinery. Dimensions and weights. Boilers. Belted cruis- 
ers 99 

PART VII. 

The yelson and Xorthamjfton. — Design. Description of hull. Armament. Ram. 

Zinc sheathing. Rig. Remarks. Motive machinery. Boilers 103 

The Warrior. — Old, but still efficient. Repairs. Late performances. A torpedo- 
ram 109 

The JVafencitch. — Peculiar features. Hydraulic propulsion an old idea. Poor 

performance. Waste of power. Coast-defense vessels 110 

The Glutton. — General description and dimensions. A remarkable experiment, 
to test the ability of a turret to revolve after being struck by heavy projectiles. 
Description of th(i Chilton's turret and armor. The Hotspur. Cannonade of 
the Glatton'j turret by the Hotspur. Results. Observations 113 



b CONTENTS. 

PART VIII. 

Page. 

Cost of British armored ships. — Addition of percentage for maintenance of plant, 
for materials, &c, in dock-yards. Cost of repairs 117 

Table of dimensions of vessels, armament, machinery, cost, &c, of the armored 

ships of Great Britain 124 

PAET IX. 

Unarmored ships of Great Britain. — The Inconstant, Shah, Raleigh, Boadicea, 
Bacchante, Rover, and Euryalus. Positions of cranks in compound engines. 
Smaller vessels. Opal class. Sloops. Gun-vessels. Arrangement for feather- 
ing screw-propeller blades. Gunboats. Composite system 129 

PART X. 

Cruisers of the rapid type, the Iris and Mercury. — Built of steel, and designed 
for exceptionally high speed. Dimensions of the Iris. Trial of machinery and 
speed. Hull. Motive machinery. Boilers. Roomy quarters for officers and 
men. Tests of materials. Preparation against the privateers of the United 
States 151 

Steel corvettes. — Design. Names. Dimensions of hull and engines. Increasing 
popularity of steel as a ship-building material 159 

Material for ships of war. — Some advantages of iron over wood as a material for 
hulls. Table of cost of repairs for a few United States vessels of wood in five 
years under a single bureau. An amount sufficient to add one effective cruis- 
ing-vessel to the Navy every year 160 

Ships of the mercantile marine suitable for war purposes.— Number of British 
sailing and steam vessels of and above fifty tons displacement. Objections to 
fitting merchant-vessels as fighting-ships. Statements and opinions of the 
admiralty constructor. England and the declaration of Paris 163 

PART XI. 

The Perkins high-pressure compound system. — Description of the engines origi- 
nally intended for the Pelican. Condenser. Boilers to be tested to 2,500 pounds 
per square inch. Pressure of steam to be carried. Distilled sea-water not to 
be used. Other vessels on Perkins's system 167 

System of contracting for steam-machinery for the British navy. — Policy of fos- 
tering engineering works. These establishments build, the dock-yards only 
repair, naval machinery. Drawing up specifications and. awarding contracts. 
Designs accepted are not invariably in accordance with specifications 172 

Trials at the measured mile. — Subsequent examination by shipwright and en- 
gineers. Regulations for trial at the measured mile. Semi-annual trial at full 
power. Objections to the system and deceptiveness of the speed, as subse- 
quently claimed. Testimony before court-martial in relation to real speed of 
Iron Duke and Vanguard 173 

Personnel of the British navy. — Number of commissioned officers of each rank. 
Number of enlisted men and boys in each branch of the service. Marine corps. 
Total number of officers and men 178 

Cost of maintaining the navy. — Pay of officers and men. Provisions and cloth- 
ing for men. The several departments. Dock-yards. Steam-machinery and 
ships building by contract. Other expenses. Total 179 

PART XII. 

British naval dock yards. — Portsmouth. Chatham. Devonport and Keyham. 

Sheerness. Pembroke 181 

Administration of dock-yards. — The superintendent. Master atteudant. Chief 
constructor. Chief engineer. Storekeeper. Accountant. Cashier. Civil en- 
gineer. Workmen and boys. Political. Pay. Police. Pensions. Remarks.. 1S9 

PART XIII. 

The French navy. — Composed chiefly of broadside-vessels. Uniformity of clas- 
sification carried to an extreme. Description of the Redoutable. Other ar- 
mored vessels. Reconstruction of the unarmored fleet. Tests of iron and steel 
for the French navy 193 

Table of dimensions, &c, of the armored ships of France *.01 



CONTENTS. 7 

Page. 
The Duquesne and Tourville, cruisers of the rapid type.— Dimensions. Weights. 

Armament. Motive machinery 203 

The Duguay-Trouin and Pigault de Genouilly and class 204 

Table of vessels building and proposed for the French navy in 1877 205 

Dock-yards of France. Division of France into arrondissements maritimes. Di- 
vision of work in the dock-yards under seven heads. Dock-yards of Cher- 
bourg, Brest, L'Orient, Rochefort, and Toulon 206 

Personnel of the French navy. — Sources from which line-officers are recruited. 
Grades and relative rank. System of retiring officers. Promotion. Number 
of officers of each rank and corps. Total number. Expenditures for 1877. En- 
listed men 210 

PART XIV. 

The German navy. — Of late origin. Plan adopted by the German naval author- 
ities. Vessels and the character of their service. Encouragement to German 

engine-building establishments 215 

The Deutschland.— Dimensions. Hull. Armament. Armor. Machinery and boil- 
ers 218 

The Preussen. — Dimensions. Hull. Armor. Turrets. Armament. Rig. 

Weights. Materials of exceptional strength and quality 220 

The Sachsen. — Dimensions. Design. Casemate. Iron-clad deck below the wa- 
ter-line. Cork girdle. Hull. Armament. Machinery and boilers. The 

Sachsen a complete fighting apparatus 223 

Other German vessels, armored and unarmored 224 

Dock-vards. — Two principal ones at Kiel and Wilhelmshafen. Ellerbeck. Dant- 

zic 1 225 

Table of dimensions, &c, of the armored ships of Germany 226 

Table of dimensions, &c, of the unarmored ships of Germany 227 

Krupp's establishment and guns. — Most extensive and important establishment 
of the kind in the world. Number of furnaces, engines, and machine-tools. 
Number of workmen employed about 15,000. The great Krupp steel breech- 
loading gun. Made wholly of crucible steel. Comparison with Armstrong's 
100-ton gun and the Woolwich 81-ton gun. Mr. Fraser's improvement on Arm- 
strong's original plan of manufacture. Materials in the Woolwich gun. Cost 
of steel guns. Chambering guns. The monster guns for the Italia and Le- 
panto 227 

PART XV. 

The Italian navy. — Classification of the Italian vessels. The armored and un- 
armored fleets 233 

The Duilio and Da ndolo.— Design. Dimensions, weights, &c, of the hull, motive 

machinery, and armament. Hull. Position of turrets. Armor. Armament. 236 

The 100-ton gun. Construction of gun. Weight of projectile. Trials of the 
gun. The targets. Revolution in guns, ships, and armor. Ram. Motive ma- 
chinery. The Duilio a most formidable ship. The Dandolo differs from the 
Duilio only in motive machinery. Engines and boilers 239 

The Italia. — The largest and most powerful ship of war in the world. Dimen- 
sions. Hull. Armored redoubt. Guns en barbette. Motive machinery. Es- 
timated speed 244 

The Cristoforo Colombo. — A wooden corvette. Hull. Dimensions. Internal ar- 
rangements. Armament. Motive machinery. Estimated speed 17 knots. Hull 
too weak to sustain the full power of the engines. Policy of the Italian na- 
val authorities 245 

Dock-yards of Venice, Castellamare, and Spezia 247 

Table of dimensions, &c, of the armored ships of Italy 24S 

PART XVI. 

The Russian navy. — Divided into two portions. Number of vessels in each, 
also of their officers and crews. Description of the Peter the Great. Effect 
produced on the hull and machinery by firing the heavy guns during the 
prevalence of low atmospheric temperatures. The Knaz Minin. General 
description of the remaining armored vessels. Unarmored cruisers. Names 
and classes 249 

Circular armored ships. — The Novgorod and Vice-Admiral Popoff. Description 
by Mr. E. J. Reed. Dimensions. Advantages of the system. Objectionable 
features. Hydraulic gun-carriages for the Popoff k as 253 



8 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Personnel of the Russian navy. No marines employed. Comparatively little 

accomplished by the Russian navy during the present war 257 

Dock-yards. — Two in the city of St. Petersburg. Principal engineering estab- 
lishment at Kolpino. Government steel-works at Alexandrovsky 258 

Table of dimensions, &c, of the armored ships of Russia 259 

PART XVII. 

The Turkish navy. — Ships mostly of English construction. Number and class 
of the uuarmored vessels. Three vessels detained in England under existing 
international law. Dimensions of the Memdoohiyeh and Mesoodiyeh. Machinery 

and boilers of the Memdoohiyeh. Speed , 261 

The Burdj Sheref and Peyk Sheref. — Dimensions. Armor. Armament. Motive 

machinery and boilers. Speed- trials of the Peyk Sheref 264 

Table of dimensions, &c, of the armored ships of Turkey 265 

Personnel of the Turkish navy. — Importance of the personnel in estimating the 
strength of a navy. That of the Turkish fleet inefficient. Very little accom- 
plished by their fleet during the present war - 266 

The flotilla on the Danube. — Destruction of Turkish vessels by the Russians .. . 266 
The Austrian Navy. — Mistake of building wooden armored ships. General 

description of the armored ships of Austria 269 

The Tegethoff. — Dimensions of hull and machinery, weights, cost, armament, &c. 

Detailed description of peculiar features of construction and armor 270 

Personnel of the Austrian navy 272 

Dock-yards. — Naval resources concentrated at Pola on the Adriatic 272 

Table of dimensions, &c, of the armored ships of Austria 273 

PART XVIII. 

The Dutch navy. — The armored vessels of old types. Dimensions and general 
description of the armored vessels. The naval authorities keeping up with 
the times in the construction of unarmored ships. Dock-yards. Personnel.. . 275 

Tables of dimensions, &c, of the armored ships of Holland .* 279 

Number and armament of the unarmored ships of Holland 280 

The Spanish navy. — Number and class of vessels on the list. Vessels of the 
cruising-fieet are of obsolete types. The Numancia and Vittoria. Armor and 
armament of the Numancia. Machinery. Cost. Armor and armament of the 
Vittoria. The Puigcerda. Personnel of the Spanish navy not in very good 
condition 281 

Table of dimensions, &c, of the armored ships of Spain 282 

The Danish navy. — The naval authorities have avoided the mistake of building 
wooden armored ships. The Danish fleet contains seven armored vessels. 
Dimensions of the Helgoland. The unarmored fleet 283 

Table of dimensions, &c, of the armored ships of Denmark 283 

The Swedish navy. — Divided into navy proper and coast-artillery. Tonnage 
and armament of the vessels of the fleet. Number of vessels in the coasc- 
artillery. Dock-yards. Limited number of vessels on foreign service. Per- 
sonnel 264 

The Norwegian navy. — Number of vessels in the fleet. Dimensions and descrip- 
tions of the most important vessels 285 

The Portuguese navy. — Number of vessels in the fleet. The armored ship Vasco 
da Gama. Personnel 286 

The Brazilian armored ship Independencia. — Designed by Mr. Reed in accordance 
with conditions given by a commission of Brazilian officers. Best described 
by calling her a rigged Devastation. Dimensions. Armor. Breastwork. Deck 
arrangements. Armament. Manner of clearing away the rigging for action. 
Machinery. Sea-going qualities. Estimated speed 287 

The Japanese armored ship Foo-Soo. — First armored ship built in England for 
Japan. General description. Dimensions. New system of framing in hull. 
Armor. Armament. Motive machinery 290 

The Japanese corvettes Eon- Go and Hi-Yei — Built in England. Dimensions. 

Armor-belt. Armament. Motive machinery 291 

Iirmime of armored ships.— Total estimated tonnage and cost. Number of ves- 
sels belonging to various nations. Not tested yet except at Lissa, and that 
battle not decisive for or against armored ships. The more recent engagement 
of the Shah and Huascar. Events and causes that led to that encounter. De- 
scription and dimensions of the Shah, Amethyst, and Huascar. Account of the 
action. The British commander's reasons for engaging 292 



CONTENTS. 9 

PART XIX. 

Page. 

Torpedc-warfare. — Observations. Two general classes of torpedoes. Explosives 

used in torpedoes in Europe. Compressed gun-cotton. Dynamite 297 

Torpedoes for offensive operations. — Three principal varieties. The Whitehead 
torpedo. Construction. Delicacy of material and workmanship in the motive 
engines. External mechanism. Speed. Eecoil after contact. Failure of the 
weapon in the only known instance of its use in action. Experiments with 
the Whitehead torpedo on board the Temeraire. Governments possessing the 
right to use it. Cost. Experiments for its improvement and development. 
The Harvey torpedo. Design. Construction. Manner of using. Skill neces- 
sary for its successful manipulation 300 

Torpedo-boats.— Messrs. Thornycroft & Co.'s Miranda the prototype of the fast 
torpedo-launch. The Norwegian torpedo-launch. Norwegian experiments 
with torpedoes and expenditures upon them. Boats of the same size for 
Sweden and Denmark. Mode of using torpedoes on the Danish boat. Aus- 
trian torpedo-launch. Description of the torpedo used. Manner of firing 
torpedo. Arrangements for working the torpedo poles. French torpedo- 
launches. Quantity of explosive used in the torpedoes. Mode of working the 
torpedo-pole used by the French. Good sea-boats. Experiments by the French 
on the Bayonnaise with one of these boats. Six larger vessels for the French 
coast. British torpedo-boat Lightning. Boats built for the Italian and Dutch 
governments. Torpedo-boats built by Yarrow & Co. One for Holland. De- 
scription of a typical boat bailt by this firm. Mechanism of attack 304 

Sea-going torpedo-vessels. Vessels fitted especially for ejecting the Whitehead 
fish-torpedo. The Vesuvius and other vessels fitted for this purpose. The Ziethen. 
The Uhlan. Russian torpedo-boat Uzreef. The Italian vessel Pietro Micca. 
The Swedish torpedo-vessel Ran 310 

The Oleron experiments. — Description of vessel. Damage sustained. The tor- 
pedo more destructive than a projectile from the heaviest gun. Small vessels 
a necessity. Experiments needed in stopping leaks. Effect of the explosion 
on the torpedo-launches themselves 314 

Defense against torpedoes. — A subject of patient and exhaustive study by the 
English. Character of defense against moored torpedoes. Hobart Pasha's 
protection against locomobile torpedoes. His and similar contrivances cum- 
bersome. Successful and original defense by a Turkish monitor against four 
Russian torpedo-boats. Illumination the most valuable means of discovery. 
Experiments with the electric light on board the Comet. Illuminating pro- 
jectiles 317 

PART XX. 

Sea-valves and cocks. — Should be always accessible and visible. Serious acci- 
dents have occurred when otherwise placed. The Knight Templar, Europe, 
Greece, Amerique, Ormesby, and other examples. Water-tight bulkheads should 
extend above the water-line 319 

Steering-gear. — Essentials. Reasons for using steam or other power. The ordi- 
nary arrangement. McFarlane Gray's gear. Unimportant objection to steam- 
gear. Hydraulic gear. Description of Brown's gear. Unimportant objection 
to hydraulic system. Other uses for the gear than steering. Brotherhood's 
system 322 

PART XXI. 

Compound engines. — Extracts from former report on this subject. In Europe 
simple engines are almost obsolete. Rapidity in substituting the compound 
for the simple engines. Lloyd's inspectors state the saving iu fuel to be from 
30 to 40 per centum 325 

Naval compound engines. — Begun in England in 1871. Report to Parliament. 
Number of vessels ordered on this recommendation. Introduced soon after 
into France, Italy, and Germany. Certain objections to the system untenable. 

Comparative merits of the simple and compound engine. — Experiments on the 
Swinger and Goshawk. The Mallard and Moorhen. Experiments of the Allan 
Line on the Polynesia and Circassian 330 

Statistics of the performance of engines.— Number of screw-steamers fitted witli 
compound engines. General form of compound engine. Tables of dimensions 
of screw-ships and their relative performance at sea. The White Star Line. 
Performance of the Britannic. Comparison with the Great Wes'e n steamship. 332 



10 CONTENTS. 

PART XXII. 

Page. 

Corrosion of marine boilers. — Generally called galvanic action. Doubtless caused 
by the action of redistilled sea-water. The use of pure rain-water seems to be 
a preventive. Experience of Messrs. Perkins and Milan. Admiralty circular. 
Precautions in the merchant service 341 

Preservation of boilers in Her Biitannic Majesty's vessels. Two systems, the wet 

and dry 345 

Water-tube boilers. — Difficult to carry high steam and yet make the boilers tight 
and safe. Extracts from paper of Mr. Flaunery. Boilers of the Montana, Pro- 
pontis, Birkenhead, Malta, Gertrude, #c 346 

Boiler explosions. — Report of the chief engineer surveyor to Lloyd's on the ex- 
plosion of the Thunderer's boiler 354 

Boilers of the mercantile marine. — Either cylindrical or elliptical. Composition 
tubes used instead of iron ones. Spring safety-valves used instead of those 
with levers. Adams's spring safety-valve. Extracts from Lloyd's Rules and 
Formube for boilers 357 

Tests required by Lloyd's for steel plates for marine boilers. Extracts from the 
rules by which the surveyors of the Board of Trade are guided in their inspec- 
tion of boilers 357 

PART XXIII. 

Conclusions. — Distinguishing features of modern line-of-battle ships, coast-de- 
fense vessels, cruising-vessels, dispatch-vessels, and torpedo-boats. Compound 
engines. Very heavy guns and those not of cast iron. Our Navy is not com- 
mensurate with the dignity of the country. European naval powers have out- 
stripped us in developing American ideas and improvements in fast-sailing 
vessels, screw propulsion, shell-fire, heavy guns, and torpedoes. The Mianto- 

- nomoh and Wampanoag originated mastless sea-going armored ships and the 
rapid type of cruisers. In war the mercantile marine can furnish numerous 
large and fast vessels for light guns and torpedoes. We should take advan- 
tage of the very expensive and exhaustive experiments made by foreign pow- 
ers, in reconstructing our Navy. The types of cruising-vessels most desirable 
to possess. Commerce and trade look to Congress for the encouragement 
afforded by naval protection 363 

PART XXIV. 

APPENDIX. 

The Royal Naval College at Greenwich. — Regulations for admission of engineer 

students. Observations 369 

Rank, pay, &c, of royal naval engineers „.. 376 

Naval models at Greenwich 377 

Scientific apparatus at the South Kensington Museum. — Watt's models. Froude's 
method of ascertaining the resistance of ships. Whitworth's measuring instru- 
ments. Joule's apparatus for discovering the mechanical equivalent of heat. 

Howe's link-motion. Brunei's block-making machinery, &c 379 

Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers 385 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

1. The Inflexible, broadside view, and plan of upper deck ; plan of lower deck. 

2. The Inflexible, section abaft the citadel. 

3. The Inflexible, section through citadel. 

4. The 81-ton gun, system of operating the gun. 

5. The 80-ton gun target No. 41. 

6. The Inflexible, curves of stability. 

7. Her Britannic Majesty's ships Ajax and Agamemnon, plan of upper deck. 

8. The Ajax and Agamemnon, section forward of citadel aud section through citadel. 

9. Her Britannic Majesty's ship Thunderer, longitudinal view, midship section and plan 

of hull. 

10. The Thunderer, hydraulic gear for working the guns. 

11. Her Britannic Majesty's ship Dreadnought, longitudinal view and plan of hull. 

12. The 38-ton gun target No. 40. 

13. The Alexandra, longitudinal view and plan of hull. 

14. The T4m6raire, longitudinal view and plan of hull. 

15. The Shannon, longitudinal view and plan of hull. 



CONTENTS. 11 

16. Her Britannic Majesty's ships Kelson and Northampton, longitudinal view and plan 

of hull. 

17. Sections of the Glatton's turret. 

18. Compound engines of Her Britannic Majesty's ship Bover. 

19. Arrangement of cranks in compound engines of the Boadicea and Bacchante. 

20. Her Britannic Majesty's ship Garnet, longitudinal view and upper-deck plan. 

21. Sections of the Cleopatra class, and sections of the Garnet class. 

22. The Perkins engine and condenser-tubes. 

23. The Buquesne, longitudinal view and plan of hull. 

24. Krupp's breech-loading 40-centimeter (15.748-inch) gun, with dimensions. 

25. The Duilio and Dandolo, longitudinal view and plan of hull. 

26. The 100-ton Armstrong gun. 

27. The 100-ton-gun targets, Plate I. 

28. The 100-ton-gun targets, Plate II. 

29. The 100-ton-gun targets, Plate III. 

30. Russian circular armored vessel Novgorod, plan of decks, side and stern views. 

31. Russian circular armored vessel Vice-Admiral Bopoff, plan of decks, water-tight di- 

visions, side and stern views, and section. 

32. The Turkish armored ship Memdoohiyeh, longitudinal view, plan of gun-deck and 

midship section. 

33. The Tegeihoff, longitudinal view and plan of hull. 

34. Sections of sides of armor-clads Kaiser and Deutschland. 

35. The Brazilian armored ship Independencia. 

36. The Japanese armored ship Foo-Soo, plan of decks and midship section. 

37. Arrangement of torpedo-wires for Thornycroft torpedo-launches. 

38. Torpedo-launches for Dutch, Italian, and British Governments. 

39. Torpedo-boats by Yarrow & Co., longitudinal views, plan of deck, and section. 

40. Boilers of steamship Montana. 

41. Watt's boilers in the steamship Gertrude, and details. 



zf-A-ir/T i 



LETTERS; PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION; INTRODUCTION; 

THE BRITISH NAVY; ADMIRALTY DESIGNS FOR HER 

BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S SHIPS OF WAR. 



13 



LETTEKS. 



FIRST LETTER. 



Washington, D. C, January 16, 1877. 

Sir: In obedience to your order, dated July 29, 1875, received at 
Bethlehem, N. JEL, August 6, directing me to proceed to Europe for the 
purpose of personally observing and reporting upon recent construc- 
tions and mechanical appliances for ships of war, with the view of 
utilizing the information to the advantage of the naval service, the 
accompanying is respectfully submitted. 

I sailed from New York August 14, 1875, and returned to the United 
States July 30, 1876. 

While in Europe I was steadily employed, and no time was unneces- 
sarily lost in the discharge of the duties assigned, as may be seen from 
the information collected and contained in the report. 

All the navies of Europe have been recently undergoing reconstruc- 
tion, and there has never been a time, during peace, when such large ex- 
penditures for naval purposes were made as at present, and such radical 
changes effected in the construction of ships of war, in steam-machinery, 
in machinery for working guns, and for various other purposes on board 
ship, and in offensive torpedo-warfare. It is, therefore, expedient for 
the department to be correctly informed of the extent and character of 
improvements in European naval warfare and economy in order that it 
may take advantage of the results. 

I am indebted for kind attentions to the dock-yard naval officers and 
proprietors of iron-ship yards and engine-factories visited in Great 
Britain and on the continent of Europe. 

I have the honor to be, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

J. W. KING, 
Chief Engineer, United States Navy, 
Late Chief of Bureau of Steam- Engineering. 

Hon. Geo. M. Bobeson, 

Secretary of the Navy. 



SECOND LETTER. 

Washington, D. C., March 6, 1878. 
Sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith the second edition of my 
Keport on European Ships of War, &c. The labor of preparing this 
work has been no easy task, it having employed my time wholly since 
the end of May last, except that portion which has been devoted to other 
official duties. 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

J. W. KING, 
Chief Engineer, United States Navy. 
Hon. B. W. Thompson, 

Secretary of the Navy. 

15 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



The flattering reception of the first edition of the Report on European 
Ships of War , <£c, evidenced by the fact that the 2,900 copies printed 
by order of the United States Senate were exhausted in a few months, 
and that the Xavy Department has not recently been able to supply 
the book to officers and others requesting copies, has encouraged the 
writer to prepare the second edition, containing more matter and better 
illustrations. 

This edition includes" the revision of a considerable portion of the 
matter contained in the first, also the additions of the ships, dock-yards, 
and personnel of the navies of Turkey, Holland, Spain, Denmark, 
Sweden, Norway, and Portugal. Besides, there is additional matter 
relating to the British ships Inflexible, Ajax, and Agamemnon, Temeraire, 
Alexandra, and Dreadnought ; cruisers of the rapid type, such as the. 
Iris, of which a detailed description is given, as her construction, fit- 
tings, speed, &c, are interesting and worthy of note; composite vessels; 
the personnel of the British navy, and the cost of maintaining that 
branch of the British service; additional particulars of the French 
navy, its personnel and dock-yards ; new ships of the German navy, 
both armored and unarmored ; the establishment of Herr Krupp, and 
his great breech-loading gun, with observations on the manufacture of 
heavy guns; the new Italian ships with their ponderous armor and 
armaments ; the new Brazilian sea-going armor-clad Independencia ; 
and the recently-constructed ships for the Japanese Government; tor- 
pedo-warfare, and tbe latest improvements in the same; torpedo-boats, 
with descriptions of the weapons used, the manner of using them, and 
defense against such craft; and additional facts relating to compound 
engines, and inspection of boilers. 

The merit of originality cannot be claimed for the contents of this 
work ; they are in the main the result of persoDal observation during 
European travel in 1875-'7C, also during two other tours of Europe, 
one in 1871 and the other in 1873, amounting in all to nearly two years 
of employment abroad on official duties. A considerable portion of the 
facts and figures have been obtained by much study of blue-books, 
parliamentary returns, the reports of committees and commissions, and 
by correspondence with naval architects, engineers, officers of navies, 
and other scientific men. I have also availed myself freely of the valu- 
able and trustworthy information furnished by Engineering and The 
Engineer, published in London, well and deservedly known as the lead- 
ing European journals devoted to engineering science and the mechanic 
arts. I am also indebted for information to the naval columns of the 
London Times and the Naval and Military Gazette, and for several. items 
to the excellent periodical E Annie Maritime. 

While such a compilation of facts as are here collected cannot be 
2k 

17 



18 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC 

esteemed a brilliant achievement, it may prove useful to many persons 
desiring to be informed of the navies of Europe and matters pertaining 
to them. 

Postscript. — After this report was fully prepared, a copy of an 
English edition of the former one was received, claiming to be a reprint 
of that one, u revised and corrected by an Euglish naval architect." 
The revision consists almost solely of the substitution of pounds and 
shillings for dollars and cents, and the change in form of some words, 
the spelling of which the preface says is peculiarly American. The 
corrections (for which I am grateful) have reference almost entirely to 
the productions of Mr. E. J. Eeed, 0. B., M. P. I believe that every 
important correction, as well as every stricture, has been noted in its 
proper place in the present edition, and has been acknowledged, except- 
ing Avhere it had already been made; and my main endeavor has been to 
make these remarks as brief as possible, because the criticisms them- 
selves form, in some cases, inconveniently long foot-notes, As my re- 
viewer has preferred to conceal his well-known name, I have alluded to 
him under his title of "An English JSaval Architect." 

J. W. K. 



INTRODUCTION. 



For the study of naval construction and marine engineering, the most 
important field of observation is Great Britain. England is in the fore- 
front as the leader and model to all European naval powers. In no 
other country can there be found so many scientific constructors and 
engineers. The Institution of Naval Architects reckons among its mem- 
bers many of the greatest masters of their art in the world, and the 
institutions of civil engineers, of mechanical engineers, and other scien- 
tific bodies, contain on their lists the names of men possessing the high- 
est engineering talent in Europe. In addition to their magnificently- 
equipped public dock-yards, the patronage of the British Government 
has sufficed to keep in existence and to increase the supplemental 
resources which relieve and aid the national establishments in time of 
peace, and which, in time of war, would be to them of priceless value. 
It is owing to this patronage, and to foreign orders for ships of war, in 
no small measure, that on the Thames, the Mersey, the Clyde, and the 
Tyne are found unrivaled establishments fully equipped, with expanded 
and developed resources, requisite for modern war-ship construction. 
Besides the numerous ships designed and built yearly for the British flag, 
English ship-yards have produced, and are still producing, war-ships 
for other nations. Nearly every considerable naval power, except the 
United States and France, has employed English designers, English 
ship-builders, engineers, and gun-manufacturers. It was here that the 
Konig Wilhelm, Kaiser, Deutscliland, and other ships for the German 
navy were built. Turkey obtained from the Clyde and the Thames a 
large proportion of her armored fleet, including all the most powerful 
vessels. Bussia, Spain, Holland, Italy, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, 
Brazil, Chili, Peru, and Japan all come to England to have armored 
ships of war constructed. The Sheffield works not only supply armor- 
plates for these ships, but also plates and materials for war-vessels built 
in continental countries. The Elswick works and Whitworth manu- 
facture guns solely for foreign orders. The armaments of many foreign 
ships, including the monster guns for the Italian service and the ma- 
chinery for working them, also the formidable pieces for the last-built 
Brazilian ships, were made at these works. Besides this, all the nations 
above named aie customers of the English ship-yards and engineering 
works, to supply vessels, machinery, and appliances for their mercantile 
marine. 

In London may be found naval attaches of nearly every important 
nation, watching and studying with ceaseless vigilance the principles 
and science of naval architecture and engineering, especially the newer 
and later inventions, the experiments in artillery practice, and the 
progress made every year in the science of warfare, offensive and 
defensive. 

Iu consequence of these facts, and for the additional reason that com- 
paratively little of value, strictly novel, originating with continental 
naval architects or engineers was found on the contiuent of Europe, the 
larger portion of my time abroad was employed in Great Britain. 

19 



THE BRITISH NAVY. 



In contemplating the power of England, the navy is always regarded 
as her bulwark. On her navy England depends for security at home 
and respect abroad. Everything concerning it excites eager interest, 
and it never fails to receive support, whatever party may be in power. 
No censure is ever passed upon the large expenditures for maintenance 
and additions to the fleets ; but the criticisms of the press and the peo- 
ple are constantly directed to the administration of the admiralty, and 
the types of vessels constructed. If any condition proposed in a design 
be not realized in the completed ship, the fact is certain to be exposed 
by the press, and severely commented upon. This influence, together 
with the watchfulness over the progress made elsewhere, has not been 
without effect. In tbe House of Commons, at a recent session of Par- 
liament, the first lord of the admiralty said, "It is our policy to keep 
pace, with the inventions of the day, and ahead of all maritime powers." 
The most able constructive ability and engineering talent in the king- 
dom is employed in producing designs for new types of vessels, for 
machinery, and for appliances of offense and defense. It may be con- 
fidently asserted that never since the application of steam propulsion 
to ships of war has the British navy been relatively so strong as at the 
present time, and yet the complaints are that it is not more powerful. 

The fleets of former beautiful wooden screw-ships, like their prede- 
cessors of the old sailing line-of-battle ship period, and the subsequent 
paddle-wheel steamers, are fast disappearing from the navy list for 
either fighting or cruising purposes. Numbers of wooden line-of-battle 
ships and frigates provided with auxiliary steam-power, but whose 
days were passed mainly under canvas; and others that never made a 
cruise — indeed, antiquated before completed — vessels in whose outlines 
the beauty of naval architecture may be said to have culminated, are 
in the same category. In fact, whole squadrons may be seen in the 
harbors of Portsmouth, Devonport, and other dock-yards, some bearing 
famous names, and "pierced for" from fifty to one hundred and one 
guns, but now as useless for purposes of modern warfare as the old 
paddle-wheel frigates or the fifty-nine sailing-vessels borne on the 
British navy list. 

The effective force of the British navy may now be divided into ships 
for great naval battles, ships for coast defense, and unarmored cruising- 
vessels. There are so many different types that it is quite impossible 
to classify them according to any former standard. The present col- 
lective fleet as presented in the navy list consists of nearly four hun- 
dred vessels of all kinds< This includes those building, but does not 
include one hundred and thirty-four laid up or employed in permanent 
harbor service, and not ever likely to be sent to sea. The total tonnage 
of these four hundred vessels is about 900,000. 

From published returns it appears that during the eight years from 
1866 to 1874, ten and a half millions of pounds sterling were expended 
in the construction of new ships, six millions of which were for armored 
ships, and four and a half millions for unarmored vessels. During tie 

21 



22 . EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

same period, one and one-third million pounds were expended on the 
repairs of armored ships, and nearly four millions on the repairs of ves- 
sels of all other kinds, and it is now estimated that about a million 
pounds sterling is expended annually on new armored ships, and three- 
quarters of a million on all other new vessels. 

ARMORED SHIPS. 

It is to the production of the most powerful seagoing fighting-ships 
that the resources of the navy are first directed ; ships sufficiently 
armored to resist projectiles of any ordinary kind, sufficiently armed to 
silence forts or to meet the enemy under any conditions proffered ; suf- 
ficiently fast to choose the time and place to fight, and sufficiently buoy- 
ant to carry coal and stores into any ocean. Of this class, according to 
official statement in the House of Commons, there will be, when those 
now under construction shall have been completed, eighteen, placed in 
the order following, according to their power, the Inflexible ranking 
first.* 

• TURRET SHIPS. 

Inflexible, building at Portsmouth, to be completed in 1878. 
Dreadnought, launched March 8, 1875, commissioned 1877. 
Thunderer, launched March 25, 1872, first commission 1877. 
Devastation, launched July 12, 1871, first commission 1873. 
Agamemnon, building at Chatham, date of completion uncertain. 
Ajax, building at Pembroke, date of completion uncertain. 
Monarch, launched May 25, 1868, first commission 1870. 

BROADSIDE-SHIPS. 

Alexandra, launched April 7, 1875, first commission 1877. 
Temeraire, launched 1876, first commission 1877. 
Sultan, launched May 31, 1870, first commission 1872. 
Hercules, launched February 10, 1868, first commission 1871. 
Bellerophon, launched April 26, 1865, first commission 1867. 
Swiftsure, launched June 15, 1870, first commission 1871. 
Triumph, launched September 27, 1870, first commission 1872. 
Audacious, launched February 27, 1869, first commission 1872. 
Invincible, launched May 29, 1869, first commission 1873. 
Iron Duke, launched March 1, 1870, first commission 1872. 
Penelope, launched June 18, 1867, first commission 1870. 

OCEAN-CRUISING SHIPS OF THE ARMOR-BELTED TYPE. 

Shannon, built at Pembroke, not yet commissioned. 

Nelson, building at Glasgow, to have been completed September, 1877. 

Northampton, building at Glasgow, completed about September, 1877. 

VESSELS FOR COAST DEFENSE. 

These are for the most part turret-vessels, built on the breastwork 
system, and are named Glatton, Hotspur (a ram), Rupert (a ram), Prince 

* When wooden vessels were first plated with armor, they were known as " iron- 
clads " ; now that all hulls are built of iron and plated with heavy armor upon a 
wooden backing, the term "armored ships" is used, as being more proper than "iron- 
clads." 



THE BRITISH NAVY. 23 

Albert, Cyclops, Gorgon, Hecate, Hydra, Scorpion, Wivern ; also the 
broadside-gunboats Viper and Vixen. Besides these for home defense, 
there are the Abyssinia and Magdala, stationed at Bombay, and the 
Cerberus, in one of the Australian harbors. Any of these monitors are 
capable of going to sea, but they are unfit for cruising ; all are low free- 
board vessels, each provided with a single revolving turret rising above 
the breastwork, the Hotspur and Rupert excepted. The former of these 
was built to be used solely as a powerful ram,* and the latter has a fixed 
turret in which the gun revolves on a platform. This vessel is also 
fitted especially for ramming. 

SHIPS OF THE ORIGINAL ARMORED TYPE. 

These vessels are built of iron, and are of the broadside variety. They 
have become antiquated, and are not now regarded as competent to meet 
in line of battle the armored ships of the present period. They consist 
of the Agincourt, Northumberland, Achilles, Black Prince, Warrior, Hector, 
Valiant, Resistance, and Defence. 

WOODEN ARMORED SHIPS. 

Most of these ships were under construction as line-of-battle ships or 
frigates at the time of the battle between the little Monitor and Merrimac 
in Hampton Koads : they were subsequently altered and converted into 
sea-going iron-clads. Many of them are decayed and relegated to har- 
bor service, and it is not probable that any of them will be much longer 
continued as cruisers, or extensively repaired. They are as follows : 
Prince Consort, Royal OaJc, Caledonia (which has an iron upper deck), 
Research, Zealous (which has an iron upper deck), Lord Clyde (which 
has had her machinery removed, and is fitted for a drill-ship), Royal 
Alfred (which has an iron deck), Royal Sovereign (a turret-ship with an 
iron upper deck), Favorite, Enterprise (with iron top-sides), Lord Warden 
(with iron inner skin), Ocean, Pallas, and Repulse. The Pallas was 
built for an iron -clad in 1865, and the Repulse in 1868 ; they were the 
last armored wood-built ships for the royal navy, and are still cruising, 
the former in the Mediterranean and the latter in the Pacific. 

MASTLESS ARMORED SEA-GOING SHIPS. 

The Devastation, the Thunderer, and the Dreadnought come under the 
above heading, and take rank first as the most powerful fighting-ships 
armed and now afloat in the world. The Inflexible, now building, 
designed as a still more powerful ship, is intended to be masted only 
during time of peace, as also the Agamemnon and Ajax, ships of the same 
type but of smaller dimensions. 

Descriptions and particulars of these powerful ships will be given 
presently. 

ADMIRALTY DESIGNS FOR SHIPS OF WAR. 

But before proceeding to describe Her Britannic Majesty's ships, it 
will, perhaps, be interesting to examine the details of the system by 
which they are produced. 

The designs of ships for the royal navy are prepared by a staff of 

* The Hotspur was not intended solely as a ram, as she was designed and built to carry a 
25-ton gun in a revolving turret, plated with 11-inch armor. When she was built this 
was the most powerful gun that was being made. — An English Naval Architect. 



24 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

draughtsmen at Whitehall, under the direction of a council of construc- 
tion. This council consists of the director of naval construction as the 
president, three chief constructors, and three assistants ; the engineer- 
ing department being represented by the engineer-in-chief and an en- 
gineer officer. 

In preparing a new design, the initiative is taken by the sea lords of 
the admiralty, who consult with the controller, the director of naval 
construction, and the director of naval ordnance. It having been de- 
cided to add a vessel of a certain type to the navy, the director of con- 
struction is ordered to prepare the plans. This he does after first dis- 
cussing the question in the council with the other members of that body. 
The draughtsmen are then set to work about the preliminary calculations 
and the salient features of the design, after which the controller and 
director of ordnance are again consulted. From time to time their 
lordships are referred to, and throughout the whole period of the prepa- 
ration of the plans the latter are continually being modified, so as to 
comply with the decisions arrived at during the discussions of the officials 
interested. When prepared, the design represents the collective opinions 
of these officials, or, at all events, it is supposed to be the nearest possi- 
ble approach thereto, as absolute unanimity can scarcely be expected 
upon every question. 

The director of construction is, frequently, the originator of the type, 
and in every case, after all important conditions have been settled, he is 
responsible for the realization, in the completed ship, of the design de- 
cided upon. 

In professional skill the members of the council of construction have 
high standing. Every one of them has served his apprenticeship in a 
royal dock-yard, was sent to the Koyal School of Naval Architecture 
and Engineering after a competitive examination, and has won his way 
to his present position through the possession of superior ability and 
attainments. 

It would seem that the course of procedure heref set forth as adopted 
at the admiralty, in the preparation of designs for ships of war, would 
meet with public favor, but professional traditions and prejudices are 
difficult to overcome. In a pamphlet, attributed to the Duke of Somer- 
set, which was published a few years ago, it was stated that li the mind 
of man does not go back to the time when the management of the navy 
by the admiralty was not a subject of dissatisfaction," and this is proved 
by the continuous succession of parliamentary inquiries, commissions, 
and committees on the subject. No part of the admiralty administra- 
tion has been so constantly and so seriously questioned as its manage- 
ment of the designing, building, arming, and equipping of ships, includ- 
ing the materials required and the maintenance of the dockyards. 

Whether the unfavorable criticisms, to which the officials have been 
subjected, have originated from anything that needs reform, or whether 
it is owing to the eager interest of the Euglish people in the welfare of 
the navy, is a question not to be considered here. 



X^J^ttT XX. 



THE INFLEXIBLE ; THE AJAX AND AGAMEMNON. 



25 



The Inflexible 




Broadside Viev 



Vv. 



Starboard 



i ; 



*s <ve of Oza-Tuoard y. . 




Plan of Upper DeckA\ 










Plan of Lower Deck . 



THE INFLEXIBLE. 



The modern man of- war is much more than an armored steamer ; she 
is a great engine of destruction, clad in heavy armor, provided with 
huge guns which are operated by machinery, driven by powerful engines, 
and fitted with machinery for purposes of all kinds. Year by year the 
thickness of armor and weight of naval artillery go on increasing to- 
gether. Mechanical appliances have more and more replaced manual 
labor, and at the same time the forms of ships have been adapted to the 
work they have to do and to the conditions under which they must act. 
^"o war- vessel yet designed has departed so widely from pre-existing 
types, and in none has so enormous a stride been made, in offensive and 
defensive power, as in the one about to be described. 

The Inflexible, which was commenced at Portsmouth dockyard in 
February, 1874, and launched April, 1876, is a twin screw, double-tur- 
ret ship, with, a central armed citadel. She was designed by Mr. Bar- 
naby, the director of naval construction at the admiralty, and at a 
meeting of the Institution of Naval Architects in London he describes 
the vessel in the following language : 

Imagine a floating castle 110 feet long and 75 feet wide, rising 10 feet out of water, 
and having above that again two round turrets, planted diagonally at its opposite 
corners. Imagine this castle and its turrets to be heavily plated with armor, aud that 
each turret has two guns of about eighty tons each. Conceive these guns to be capable 
of firing, all four together, at an enemy ahead, astern, or on either beam, and in pairs 
toward every point of the compass. Attached to this rectangular armored castle, but 
completely submerged, every part being 6 to 7 feet under water, there is a hull of 
ordinary form with a powerful ram bow, with twin screws and a submerged rudder 
and helm. This compound structure is the fighting part of the ship. Seaworthiness, 
speed, and shapeliness would be wanting in such a structure if it had no addition to 
it ; there is therefore an unarmored structure lying above the submerged ship and 
connected with it, both before and aft the armored castle, and as this structure rises 
20 feet out of water from stem to stern without depriving the guns of that command 
of the horizon already described, and as it moreover renders a flying deck unnecessary, 
it gets over the objections which have been raised against the low free-board and other 
features in the Devastation, Thunderer, and Dreadnought. These structures furnish also 
most luxurious accommodations for officers aud seamen. The step in advance has 
therefore been from 14 inches of armor to 24 inches ; from 35-ton guns to 80 tons ; from 
two guns ahead to four guns ahead; and from a height of 10 feet for working the 
anchors to 20 feet. And this is done without an increase in cost, and with a reduction 
of nearly 3 feet in draught of water. My belief is that in the Inflexible we have reached 
the extreme limit in thickness of armor for sea-going vessels. 

The length of the vessel between perpendiculars is 320 feet, and she 
has the extraordinary breadth of 75 feet at the water-line; depth of 
hold, 23 feet 3J inches ; free-board, 10 feet; mean draught of water, 24 
feet 5 inches (23 feet 5 inches forward and 25 feet 5 inches aft) ; area 
of midship section, 1,658 square feet ; and displacement wheu all the 
weights are on board, 11,407 tons, being the largest of any man-of- 
war hitherto constructed. She is, as before described, a rectangular 
armored castle ; the whole of the other parts of the vessel which are un- 
protected by armor have been given their great dimensions for the sim- 
ple purpose of floating and moving this invulnerable citadel aud the 
turrets by which it is surmounted. Her immense bulk, unprecedented 

27 



28 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

armament, powerful machinery, and the provision for ramming, and 
for resisting the impact of rams as well as of shot and shell, have made it 
necessary that strength and solidity should enter into every part of the 
structure. 

HULL AND APPENDAGES. 

While the cellular compartments of the double bottom have a little 
less depth than in the Devastation class, they are built up of heavier 
angle-irons and plating, and steel has been very largely employed for 
the purpose of securing great strength with comparative lightness of 
material. The hull is composed of flat and vertical keels, transverse 
and longitudinal frames, inner and outer bottom -plating. The vertical 
keel is formed of steel plates f inch thick by 40 inches deep, and 
the flat keel-plates are of iron in two thicknesses of if inch and f inch, 
the two being connected by angle-irons 5 by 5 inches by f inch. On the 
upper edge of the vertical keel the angle-irons by which it is fastened 
to the inner bottom-plates are 3 inches by 3J by \ inch. The frame- 
work of the vessel below the armor is composed of longitudinal and 
transverse frames. The former, e'ight in number, are formed of steel 
plates T 7 ^ineh in thickness, the shelf- plate being of iron J inch thick. 
These frames extend as far forward and aft as is deemed practicable. 
Within the double bottom, which extends through 212 feet of the ship's 
length, the transverse frames are solid, and are made water-tight at in- 
tervals of 20 feet. There are also intermediate bracket-frames placed 
4 feet apart. Throughout the double bottom the transverse frames, 
which are likewise 4 feet apart, are of the thickness of f inch, but are con- 
siderably lightened by having holes cut through them, the upper parts 
at the same time being much narrowed. Additional intermediate frames 
are worked in the engine-room in order to secure greater strength. The 
angle-irons forming the frames vary from 5J inches by 3 inches by J 
inch to 3 inches by 3 J by J inch. The outer skin plating of the bottom 
varies from if inch in the garboard strakes to § inch, with the exception 
of the ends, where the thickness is increased to f inch, and behind the 
anchors, where the plating is doubled. The t>lating of the inner bot- 
tom, which extends through the length of the double bottom, and 
which, like the outer bottom, is made perfectly water-tight, is of the 
uniform thickness of f inch, except under the engines, where it is T 7 ¥ 
inch. As is usual in iron vessels, the stern of the Inflexible consists of 
a solid iron forging, scarfed at its lower end to the keel-plates. The 
stern-post and after pieces of keel, which are formed of the best angle- 
iron, were also made in a single forging. The rudder is a solid iron 
frame filled in with wood and covered with iron plates. In consequence 
of its immense weight — some 9 tons — it is made to work upon double 
pintles in combination w T ith the ordinary pintles and braces. It is moved 
by a tiller 4 feet 6 inches below the water. Indeed, the whole of the 
steam steering-gear will be placed below the water-line and armored 
deck, so that it will be impossible for the rudder-head to be injured by shot 
or shell during an engagement. To receive the propeller-shafts two iron 
tubes are constructed, one under each quarter. The fore parts of these 
tubes, where they leave the run of the ship, are supported by the frame- 
work of the hull, which is bossed out in a suitable form for the purpose, the 
after parts being supported by struts from the ship's bottom. There 
are four decks — the lower, middle, upper, and superstructure decks — 
the last being a middle-line erection placed forward and aft above the 
upper deck for working the ship, carrying and lowering the boats, &c. 
Outside the citadel the lower-deck beams are covered with iron 3 inches 



The Inflexible 




Section abaft Citadel.. 



THE INFLEXIBLE. 29 

thick. This deck is depressed at the fore end so as to meet that part of 
the bow which is intended for ramming, thus conferring upon it greatly 
increased strength and resistance when engaged in butting an enemy's 
ship. It may be here stated that the ram of the Inflexible is of the spur 
kind, and though it is fixed at the present time, it will eventually be 
made to unship during ordinary cruises. The middle-deck flat consists 
of J-inch plating covered with 3-inch deal planks ; while the upper- 
deck beams in the vicinity of the citadel are covered with 3-inch plating, 
and in other places with J-inch plating. The beams, pillars, and bulk- 
heads for supporting the various decks and platforms, and forming the 
different compartments and rooms, are arranged and fitted so as to give 
the greatest possible strength to the sides of the vessel. The largest 
beams are on the main deck. They are 14 inches deep, while those on 
the upper deck are 10 inches, and those on the lower deck are 12 inches 
deep. Every beam is either supported by wrought-iron tube-pillars or 
is trussed where pillars cannot be erected, the strongest being under 
the turrets. The two superstructures themselves in no wise add to the 
power of the ship, either for attack or defense. Their purpose in the 
economy of the ship is to afford accommodation for the officers and 
crew ; and as the structures are erected on the upper deck, this will be 
of the best kind, with abundance of air and natural light. Their dimen- 
sions are : fore superstructure, extreme length, 104 feet 4 inches ; breadth, 
21 feet 4 inches; after superstructure, extreme length, 105 feet 4 inches ; 
breadth, 30 feet. The frames are formed of angle-iron, 7 inches by 3 
inches, placed 4 feet apart, and between them are intermediate frames 
made of angle-iron 4 inches by 3 inches. The ends are covered with 
|-iuch plates, and the whole surface with 3-iuch deals. The cabin-walls 
are all coated with Welch's wood-faced cement, as a protection against 
the results of atmospheric condensation. The officers and men together 
will number 350. As a protection against the casualties of war and the 
sea, the hull is divided by means of the transverse and longitudinal bulk- 
heads into no fewer than 135 water-tight compartments, and arrange- 
ments will be made for quickly removing therefrom any water that may 
collect within them through collision or other cause. Powerful steam- 
pumps, among which may be mentioned two of Friedmann's patent eject- 
ors, capable of discharging 300 tons of water each per hour, will be fitted. 
All the bulkheads are provided with water-tight doors of an improved 
pattern, sluice- valves, manholes, and water-tight scuttles. Water-tight 
doors can also be fitted, when necessary, to the bulkheads passing- 
through the coal-bunkers. Each of the water-tight compartments has 
been tested by hydraulic pressure. Great attention has been bestowed 
upon the question of ventilation, which in ships of the Devastation 
class, and indeed in all monitors of low free-board, has been a source of 
considerable discomfort and embarrassment. In the Inflexible the fresh 
air will be drawn into the midship part of the vessel through a series of 
downcast shafts, by means of eight powerful fans, worked by four of 
Messrs. Brotherhood & Hardingham's patent three-cylinder engines. 
The air is then conducted into main pipes, which run around the sides 
of the hull to the extremities, and from these, subsidiary or branch 
pipes discharge the air in ample quantities to every part of the ship. 

DEFENSE. 

The annexed drawings will give a good idea of the design of the ship. 

Over the shot-proof deck, at a level a little above the water-line, comes 

the middle deck, and, as may be seen from the plates, the entire space 



30 EUEOPEAN SHIPS OF WAK, ETC. 

between the two decks is divided into compartments arranged partly to 
carry coals and partly stores packed in water-tight tanks, forming fur- 
ther subdivisions of the space, !Next to the sides of the ship the com- 
partments are about 4 feet wide, and are filled with cork, and inside 
this again are compartments 2 feet wide, filled with layers of canvas 
and oakum, which, by experiment, are found partially to close holes 
made by shot passing through, and to check the passage of water. The 
cork and canvas compartments are carried above the main deck 4 feet 
and 2 feet respectively, and 30 feet forward of the citadel and 37 feet 
aft of it. Thus, if a shot hit the unarmored ends of the vessel at right 
angles to the water-line, it would travel through, first, 4 feet of cork, 
then 2 feet of canvas and oakum, then such coal and stores as were 
unconsumed, and finally pass through oakum and cork to the sea, on 
the opposite side from which it entered. The cork is, of course, intended 
as a life-belt to the ship, to give her additional buoyancy when the un- 
protected ends are riddled and filled with water. 

The protected portion of the ship is confined to the citadel or battery, 
within whose walls are inclosed the engines and boilers, the turrets, the 
hydraulic loading-gear, the magazines, and in fact all the vital parts of 
the vessel. It measures 110 feet in length, 75 feet in breadth, and is 
armored to the depth of 6 feet 5 inches below the water-line, and 9 feet 
7 inches above it. The sides of the citadel consist of an outer thickness 
of 12-inch armor-plating, strengthened by vertical angle-iron guides 
11 inches wide and 3 feet apart, the space between them being filled 
in with teak backing. JBehind these girders, in the wake of the 
water-line, is another thickness of 12-inch armor, backed by horizontal 
girders 6 inches wide, and supported by a second thickness of 
teak backing. Inside this are two thicknesses of 1-inch plating, 
to which the horizontal girders are secured; the whole of the armor 
backing and plating being supported by and bolted to transverse frames 
2 feet apart, and composed of plates and angle-irons. It will thus be 
seen that the total thickness of armor at the water-line strake is not less 
than 24 inches. The armor-belt, however, is not of uniform strength 
throughout, but varies in accordance with the importance of the pro- 
tection required and the exposure to attack. Consequently, while the 
armor at the water-level is 24 inches in two thicknesses of 12 inches 
each, above the water-line it is 20 inches in two thicknesses of 12 inches 
and 8 inches, and below the water-line it is reduced to 16 inches in two 
thicknesses of 12 inches and 4 inches. The teak backing with which it 
is supported also varies inversely as the thickness of the armor, being 
respectively 17 inches, 21 inches, and 25 inches in thickness, and form- 
ing with the armor, with which it is associated, a uniform wall 41 inches 
thick. The depth of armor below the load w r ater-line is 6 feet 5 inches, 
but as the vessel will be sunk a foot on going into action by letting 
water into its double bottom, the sides will thus have armor protection 
to the depth of 7 feet 5 inches below the fighting-line. The outside 
armor is fastened by bolts 4 inches in diameter, secured with nuts and 
elastic washers on the inside. The shelf-plate on which the armor rests 
is formed of J-inch steel plates, with angle-iron on the outer edge 5 
inches by 3 .J inches by ^ inch. The armor on the fore bulkhead of the 
citadel is exactly the same in every respect as that on the sides, but the 
armor of the rear bulkhead is somewhat thinner, being of the respective 
gradations of 22, 18, and 14 inches, and forming with the teak backing, 
which is 10, 20, aud 24 inches, a uniform thickness of 38 inches. It may 
also be useful to mention that before and abaft the citadel the frames 



The Inflexible. 




Section Through Citadel 



THE INFLEXIBLE. 31 

are formed of 7-inch and 4-ineh angle-irons, covered with T 9 ginch plates. 
The total weight of the armor, exclusive of deck, is 2,250 tons, and the 
total weight of armor, inclusive of deck, is 3,155 tons. 

TURRETS. 

But the most singular feature in the design of the ship is the situa- 
tion of the turrets. In the Devastation and Thunderer, and in fact all 
monitors afloat, the turrets are placed on the middle line, an arrange- 
ment which, though advantageous in some respects, possesses this signal 
disadvantage, that in double-turreted monitors only one-half of the guns 
can be brought to bear on the enemy either right ahead or directly 
astern. In the Inflexible, however, the turrets rise up on either side of 
the ship en echelon within the walls of the citadel, the forward turret 
being on the port side and the after turret on the starboard side, while 
the superstructures are built up along a fore-and-aft line of the deck. 
By these means the whole of the four guns can be discharged simulta- 
neously at a ship right ahead or right astern, or on either beam, or in 
pairs toward any point of the compass. Besides these important advan- 
tages, the guns of each turret can be projected clear of the ship's side- 
in the case of the one turret to port, and in the case of the other turret to 
starboard. They can then be depressed enough not only to strike a 
vessel at close quarters, below the line of her armor, but even to fire 
down upon her deck, should the enemy be ranged alongside. The walls 
of the turrets, which last have an internal diameter of 28 feet and an 
external diameter of about 33 feet 10 inches, are formed of armor of a 
single thickness of 18 inches (the thickest ever manufactured, with 
the exception of the 22-inch experimental plate which was rolled 
at Messrs. Cammell & Oo.'s works, at Sheffield, for the turrets of the 
Italian frigates), with backing of the same thickness, and an inner 
plating of 1 inch in two equal thicknesses. All experience has proved 
that, for many reasons, this arrangement is the best. The wood backing 
distributes the blow when struck, deadens the vibrations, protects the 
fastenings, and stops the splinters, while the inner iron is also of advan- 
tage, since it renders the backing more compact, and also assists in 
arresting the passage of debris. The height of the turret ports from 
the load-line is 12 feet, and a foot less from the fighting-line, and all 
the plating in the wake of the guns is considerably strengthened. 4 



* 



OFFENSE. 

A very special interest attaches to the armament of the Inflexible, not 
only because it consists of guns vastly more powerful than any yet 
mounted afloat, but because these guns are carried and worked on the 
new and remarkable hydraulic system which has hitherto only been tried 
in the fore turret of the Thunderer. Each turret weighs no less than 
750 tons (including the guns), and having to deal with a moving mass 
of such enormous weight, and with the superadded difficulty of a float- 

* Some imx)ortant experiments were made by the British admiralty, in December last, 
on the target-ship Nettle, at Portsmouth, for the purpose of testing the powers of re- 
sistance of steel and compound steel and iron plates, having for their immediate object 
the solution of the problem as to the kind of armor of which the turrets of the Inflex- 
ible shall be constructed. Steel plates and compound iron aad steel plates from differ- 
ent manufacturers were fired at ; among them was one made of Whitworth's compressed- 
when-fluid steel. The results of these experiments were not conclusive, but they 
seemed to indicate that a perfect substitute for iron as a means of resisting the huge 
projectiles of modern warfare has yet to be produced. 



32 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

ing, and therefore unstable, platform on which to revolve, it was deter- 
mined to commence at this point with the adoption of the hydraulic 
system of Sir William Armstrong, as developed for gunnery purposes 
by his partner, Mr. George Rendel. The revolution of the turrets ac- 
cordingly will be accomplished by hydraulic machinery, in a manner 
similar to that employed by the Elswick firm for turning swing-bridges 
and great cranes. In such cases the weights dealt with have already 
exceeded that of the turrets of the Inflexible ; and so complete is the 
control afforded by hydraulic machinery in the movements of heavy 
masses in these analogous cases, that it is believed the turrets will, by 
this machinery, be rotated at any speed, from a complete revolution in 
one minute, down to a rate as slow and as uniform as desired. The ad- 
vantage of the high speed is plain; that of the slow but regular rota- 
tion will be apparent when it is remembered how much delicacy of 
adjustment is necessary for following with the aim an object moving 
rapidly and at a distance. Although the 80- ton guns will be worked on 
a system similar to that adopted in the case of the 38-ton guns of the 
Thunderer, yet as the design of the Inflexible had not been completed 
before the decision to work the guns by hydraulic power was formed, a 
much more complete hydraulic gunnery arrangement has become possi- 
ble. The sponging and loading apparatus are still, as in the Thunderer, 
to be placed at duplicate fixed stations outside the turrets, and under 
the protection of the armored deck of the vessel. The muzzles of the 
guns are brought to the loading mechanism by revolving the turret and 
slightly depressing the guns. But there is no special loading-port as in 
the Thunderer. All that is necessary is to depress the guns to the small 
angle required for bringing the muzzles below the level of the deck, 
which, still further to reduce this angle, is raised and inclined upward 
at the base of the turrets so as to form a sort of glacis, and to give cover 
to the muzzles without involving any considerable depression of the 
gun. By this means the objection brought against the greater depres- 
sion of the guns of the Thunderer is avoided. A more important nov- 
elty is the manner of mounting the 80-ton guns in the turrets. Hitherto 
it has been the practice to place all heavy guns upon an iron structure, 
called the carriage, on which they rest by means of the trunnions. This 
carriage bears, besides the gun, the mechanism for elevating and de- 
pressing the gun, and for " tripping," and also in part the mechanism 
for checking recoil. Besides the carriage, again, there is the slide upon 
which the carriage runs. Now in the system adopted for the Inflexible, 
Mr. G. Bendel has taken the bold step of dispensing altogether with a 
carriage, properly so called. 

The leading features of the arrangement are shown in Fig. 3. Two 
guns will be mounted side by side in each turret. Each guu will be 
mounted so as to be supported on three points. The trunnions will rest 
on blocks sliding on fixed beams bolted down to the floor of the turret, 
while the breech will rest on a third block, sliding like the others between 
guides upon a beam or table. Behind each of the trunnion-blocks, in 
the line of recoil, are two hydraulic cylinders, connected with them by 
piston-rods. The cylinders communicate by a pipe, on which there is a 
valve, which, on the recoil of the gun, opens and allows the pistons to 
run back slowly, checking the recoil. By reversing the apparatus, the 
gun can be run out again. The beam on which the breech rests is sup- 
ported by a third hydraulic cylinder, fixed vertically beneath it in the 
turret. By this means the breech can be easily raised or lowered, thus 
elevating or depressing the muzzle of the gun, which pivots on its trun- 
nions with a large preponderance toward the breech. In order to load, 



h 



00 



<9f> 




THE INFLEXIBLE. 33 

the muzzle is depressed until it comes opposite to an opening made in 
the upper deck before the turret. A hydraulic rammer works in guides 
through this hole, and the rammer-head is hollow, and is so constructed 
that when it is driven into the recently-fired gun, and comes in contact 
with the sides of the powder-chamber, a valve opens, and it discharges 
through a number of holes small jets of water, thus acting as a sponge, 
and extinguishing any remnants of the charge or of the products of the 
explosion which may have remained smoldering in the bore. It is 
then withdrawn, and a hydraulic shot-lift raises up to the muzzle of the 
gun the charge, the projectile, and a retaining wad, and then a single 
stroke of the rammer drives them into the gun and home to the base of 
the bore. Again the rammer is withdrawn, the hydraulic piston under 
the breech of the gun elevates the muzzle, the turret swings around, aud 
the shot is fired. A 9-inch gun, mounted experimentally in a turret 
at Els wick, aud loaded on this system, was brought to the loading 
position, sponged, loaded, and brought back to the 'firing-point in 
forty seconds. Comparatively equally rapid loading was effected with 
the 38 ton gun during the experimental trial of the hydraulic gear on 
board the Thunderer. Thus, the first advantage of the system is 
rapidity of fire; the second is economy of labor. One man only for 
each gun is stationed in the turret, another works the hydraulic 
rammer on the main deck, six or eight others are employed ia bringing 
up the ammunition to the shot-lift by means of a small tram vay. There 
are two sets of loading-gear for each turret ; but even, if both were put 
out of order, the gun could still be loaded with an ordinary rammer 
and sponge by a number of men stationed on the main deck. The adop- 
tion of the system enables very heavy guns to be carried in compara- 
tive^ small turrets. Those of the Inflexible are very little larger than 
those of the Devastation, so that with the old plan of having a numer- 
ous crew in the turret and running in the gun in order to load it by 
hand, only the 38 ton gun could be carried. As it is quite possible that 
the Inflexible will be armed with even more tremendous weapons than 
the 80-ton guns, this has been held in view in designing the ship ; 
and, by a slight modification, it will be possible to mount in each of her 
turrets a pair of 160-ton guns, with a length of 30 feet and a caliber of 
20 inches. The armament of the Inflexible will be composed of four of 
the* heaviest guns (except those making for the Italian vessels) ever 
constructed, of which the experimental 81-ton gun completed at Wool- 
wich and tested is the type.* Fig. 2 is a sectional sketch of the gun, 
showing the arrangement of the wrought-iron coils welded around the 
massive central steel tube. This tube, which forms the core of the gun, 
is bored out of a solid ingot, which cost $8,262. The bore is 24 feet 
long, and rifled from the muzzle to within a short distance of the base 
of the tube, where the unrified portion forms the powder-chamber. The 
greatest external diameter of the gun is 6 feet, and at the muzzle it is 
2 feet in diameter. The full caliber of the piece is 16 inches. The 

* The largest rilled piece previously manufactured is the Krupp gun, exhibited at the 
Vienna Exposition, and subsequently exhibited at the Centeunial Exhibition. It was 
mounted on a wrought-iron sea-coast carriage, Laving steel hydraulic recoil-cylinders. 

This gun is a breech-loader, and is built up with steel hoops over a steel tube. Its 
weight, including the breech-loading apparatus, is 56£ tons. The length of the tube 
is 26 feet 3 inches. The length of the bore is 22 feet 6£ inches, and the caliber 14 
inches. The twist is uniform. 

The projectiles consist of both steel and chilled shells, and shells 2.8 calibers in 
length. The heaviest projectiles, when charged, weigh, the steel, 1,124.;") pounds; the 
chilled, 1,157.5 pounds ; and the powder-charge of the gun is 242.5 pounds for steel aud 
chilled shells, and 275 pounds lor long fuse shells. 

A Krupp gun of greater weight and power will be noticed hereafter. 

3k 



34 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



experimental gun was first bored out to 14J inches and tested ; for a 
second series of experiments it was given a caliber of 15 inches, and 
then bored to the full caliber of 16 inches and finally tested. 

The gun is rilled with 13 grooves, each having an increasing pitch 
from to 1 in 35 calibers. The service powder-charge is 370 pounds of 
1.5-inch powder. The weight of the projectile for the service shell is 
1,700 pounds, and the bursting charge about 100 pounds of powder. 
The details of the series of proof-trials at Woolwich, also the tests at 
Shoeburyness, have been widely published. Still, for reference, it is be- 
lieved advisable to give here the results of the trials last made with the 
caliber of 16 inches, that at which the gun is to be used in actual war- 
fare: 



Number of rounds, 


1 

a, 
o 

83 


® 

-a 
o 

I 
© 


6 

©H 

,a © 
"© 


S'O 

-2 9 

a> © 
> © 
K © 
© m 

^ hi 

N © 
•Z ©< 


Mean pressure 
in gun. 


© 

bt ^ 

s- © 

© a, 
c © 

® © 

o 
H 


1 


Cubic 
inches. 
U5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 
1.5 


Pounds. 
340 
350 
350 
350 
350 
350 
360 
370 
350 
370 
360 
360 
370 
370 


Pounds. 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 
1,700 


Feet. 
1,486 
1,505 
1, 502 
1,467 
1,475 
1,493 
1,487 
1,495 
1,518 
1, 5-23 
1,519 
1,518 
1,519 
1,517 


Tons per square 
inch. 

20.1 

20.4 

20.3 

19.6 

18.4 

21 

18.8 

19.9 

20.5 

20.3 

21.3 

20.0 

19.8 

20.7 


Fool-tons. 
26, 030 


2 


26, 740 
26, 630 


3 


4 . j 


25 406 


5 


25, 683 


6 


26, 314 


7 


26, 103 


8 


26, 385 


9 


27, 203 


10 


27, 383 


11 


27, 239 


12 


27, 203 
27, 239 


13 


14 


27, 168 







The experiments for range and accuracy were conducted at Shoebury- 
ness, and are reported to have met the unqualified approval of the au- 
thorities. When the last experiments were concluded, viz, October 4, 
1876, the gun, originally weighing 81 tons, but now reduced by re- 
boring, &c, to 80 tons, had fired 110 rounds, and it may be interesting 
to summarize the amount of ammunition that has been thus expended. 

With its normal caliber of 14.5 inches it fired 4,660 pounds of powder and 27,052 
pounds of iron in 21 rounds. With a caliber of 15 inches it fired in 32 rounds 8,223 
pounds of powder and 45,712 pounds of iron. With the same caliber, but with a pow- 
der-chamber of 16 inches, in 21 rounds it disposed of 6,020 pounds of powder and 30,810 
pounds of shot. With its present uniform bore of 16 inches, and while at Woolwich, 
it fired 8,870 pounds of powder and 45,981 pounds of iron in 27 rounds. This gives 
27,773 pounds of powder and 149,555 pounds of iron expended at Woolwich in 101 
rounds. At Shoeburyness the gun has fired 39 rounds with 14,430 pounds of powder 
and 66,300 pounds of iron. This gives a total number of 140 rounds, 42,203 pounds 
of powder, and 215,855 pounds of iron. 

During the experiments for range, shells were reported to have been 
recovered from a miuimum distance of six miles ; others were traced 
still farther, until deep water arrested the progress of the explorers. 

Some idea of the amount of ammunition required for the 80-ton gun 
may be formed when it is estimated that, in an action, if the Inflexible 
would fire only ten shots from each of the four guns, she would expend 
14,800 pounds of pebble-powder, and hurl upward of 30 tons of pro- 
jectiles, at a cost of about $6,320. 

The cost of the gun, exclusive of carriage and the machinery for 
working it, was estimated at $72,900, and the factory-plant aud experi- 




-3_Vj_ _ -% 4-Sr * i 6-2. r-*- && /< 

Side View (Sectional). 



-j->i- nttiTb--- 1 




Front View. 



THE INFLEXIBLE. 35 

mental trials at $48,600. The actual cost of each of the^ight guns will 
be best known when all are manufactured. 

The target against which this gun has been proving its powers at 
Shoeburyness is the most formidable of any hitherto fired at. It is gi- 
gantic, even in comparison with those fired at by the 100-ton gun at 
Spezia, hereafter to be noticed. 

Its construction is beautifully and plainly shown by illustrations giv- 
ing front elevation, horizontal and vertical sections, with accompanying 
figures and explanations, in the Engineer of February 2 and 9, and from 
which the accompanying figure has been taken. 

The target is altogether different from the Spezia targets, as may be 
seen by referring to the sketch. It is composed of four iron armor- 
plates, each 8 inches thick, sandwiched between three layers of teak 
each 5 inches thick, amounting in all to 32 inches of iron and 15 inches 
of teak. The plates are 16 feet in breadth by 10 feet in height. Each 
plate weighs 23 tons, the collective weight of iron being thus 92 tons. 
The plates are secured together in pairs by bolts ; that is to say, the 
front plate is bolted to the second one, the second to the third, the third 
to the fourth, and the fourth to the horizontal beams in the rear. The 
bolts employed are 3 inches in diameter. The shank of the bolt has the 
Palliser projecting screw-thread on it, while the head is made on the 
ball-and-socket principle, with the bole in the plate allowing play round 
the neck of the shank, so that one plate may move slightly on the next 
without shearing the bolt. 

The target is supported by a heavy frame- work of beams, mostly 14 
inches square, and very firmly secured to the ground by strutted piles at 
the ends, and weighted with an old armor-plate on the top to keep the 
teak filling from escaping under the force of the blow of impact. 

The cost of the armor-plates and bolts was about $21,300 in gold, and 
the cost of the timber and labor about $1,000 more. 

The first shot was fired February 1. 

The gun was charged with 370 pounds of powder, cubes of 1.5 inch, and a Palliser 
projectile filled with sand to 1,700 pounds 7 weight, including gas-check, and plugged. 
This projectile was of service form, having an ogival head of l| caliber radius. 

By reference to the sketch it will be seen that the projectile buried itself into the 
target, having penetrated through the first three plates and the three layers of wood, 
also about 1 inch into the rear plate; that is, it penetrated through 24 inches of iron, 
15 inches of teak- wood, and was arrested with the point 1 inch into the fourth plate, 
thus leaving 7 inches of iron in front of it unpierced, which iron, being cracked and 
bent, would offer greatly diminished resistance to further penetration — the projectile 
itself being split. * 

The horizontal beam at the base of the back of the target was crushed and split into 
ribbons, and the whole target structure sprung and shaken. 

On the same day a blind common shell was fired from the 81-ton gun at an old 8-inch 
unbacked armor-plate, which was completely demolished, being split and broken 
across and thrown out of its position, and the shell broken up and scattered. 

Doubtless the common shell from this gun would be terrible against any weak- 
armored ship. 

After these trials, the gun being returned to Woolwich, the powder- 
chamber was enlarged to a diameter of 18 inches for a length of 58J 
inches, and that of the bore retained at 16 inches. Early in May the trial 
of the gun, with the enlarged powder-chamber, took place at Shoebury- 
ness. 

The firing, as before, was against the structure known as the No. 41 tar- 
get, consisting of four thicknesses of 8-inch plates and intermediate layers 
of 5 inches of teak, above described and here represented by illustrations 
taken from the Engineer. 



36 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

These trials for penetration do not involve many rounds, which would 
necessitate an enormous expenditure for targets. The utmost effect of 
every round must be carefully considered in order to economize the 
splendid target against which the gun is directed. 

The following are the conditions and results of the first trial with the 
18-inch powder-chamber: The charge of the powder employed was 425 
pounds, that previously used being 370 pounds, 1 5-inch cubes in each 
case. The projectile was a Palliser shell weighted to 1,700 pounds wi h 
sand, and plugged ; it was studded, and to its base was attached a Lyon 
gas-check, which consists of a disk of copper having a thickened rim 
which is expanded into grooves of the bore by the pressure of the gases 
of the powder. The range, as before, was 120 yards. 

The position of the shot fired on the previous round is shown at A, 
Figs. 1 and 3, and the position on this occasion is shown at B, Figs. J, 
2, and 3. The shot struck a spot about 6 feet from the proper left, and 
7 feet from the bottom of the target. The hole in the iront plate was 
rather larger than it should have been, either from the shot not striking 
quite steadily and truly, or from the setting up of the metal of the shot 
during penetration. The point was visible through large cracks in the 
back of the target, in some places open to a width of 2J inches. There was 
about 5 inches of iron still in advance of the point, but this was fissured 
and opened in a star crack, shown in Fig. 4. The back plate was bulged or 
bent back nearly 14 inches, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and the horizon- 
tal beam behind the top of the target crushed and split from end to end. 
The bolts passing through this beam now protruded at the back to an 
extent reaching from the target's proper left to right, of J inch, 1J 
inches, 4 inches, 4J inches, 2 inches, and J inch, consecutively. There 
was no appearance, however, of any of the bolts having been broken. 

The initial velocity of the shot was 1,600 feet per second, the highest 
yet attained by any gun, giving an energy of 30,180 foot-tons, or 600.3 
foot-tons per inch of circumference. The striking velocity was 1,585 
feet per second, giving 29,620 foot-tons of energy, or 589.2 foot-tons per 
inch of circumference. The average chamber pressure was found to be 
19.9 tons per square inch, a result well within the limit assigned by the 
Woolwich authorities, which is 25 tons. The charge had 34 cubic inches 
of air-space per pound of powder, and was ignited centrally through 
the rear or axial vent. The hollow space for central ignition in the 
center of the cartridge, which was formerly preserved by means of a 
wicker pottle or basket, is now maintained ,by a zinc pottle, which an- 
swers the purpose very well, and is entirely consumed or vaporized. 
The charge itself was contained in a silk bag. The power of penetration 
possessed by the 80-ton gun in its chambered condition is consequently 
proved to be slightly superior to that of the 100- ton gun at Spezia in its 
unchambered condition. It is remarked, too, that this force was gen- 
erated in the gun with a defective tube. After the rouud was fired, a 
guttapercha impression was taken, which showed that no alteration 
whatever had taken place in the crack, the gun still remaining in a safe 
condition for further work. It will thus be seen that the Woolwich gun 
continues to give satisfaction. It was returned to Woolwich after the 
last round in order to utilize its carriage for the trial of the first of the 
four 80-ton guns, now being constructed at the royal arsenal for the 
Inflexible; also to have its damaged tube replaced by a new tube that 
is being prepared for the purpose. The gun-carriage and its appendages 
weigh in all 40 tons, and the recoil in this last round up the railway, 
there being an ascending gradient, was found to be do feet. 



THE INFLEXIBLE. 37 

THE NEW 80-TON GUN. 

This is the first of the four service guns intended for the Inflexible, 
the one first constructed and described being experimental. It chiefly 
differs from the first in having thirty-two grooves in the bore ; the pro- 
jectile having no studs, but being made to take the rifling by the setting 
up of a copper gas check fixed on the base, and which thus enters the 
grooves. It adheres firmly to the base of the projectile by means of radi- 
ating saw-tooth-shaped cuts on the latter. The new gun has at present 
a bore of 15.5 inches diameter, without any enlargement at the chamber. 
The firing-charge employed was in each instance 335 pounds of powder 
of 1.5-inch cubes. The proof projectile weighed 1,550 pounds. Thefollow- 
ing muzzle velocities were obtained : First round, 1,603 feet per second ; 
second round, 1,599 feet ; and third,], 598 feet. The pressure of the 
three rounds was regi stered at 22.8, 22.4, and 22.8 tons respectively. 
These results must be considered very good, because the bore and 
chamber >are not yet brought to their full dimensions, and are uot, there- 
fore, in the condition to enable the powder to burn to the best advan- 
tage. It may be seen that the pressures, considering this, are not very 
high, and are ver'y regular. The same carriage is employed as carried 
the fir -t gun on the previous trial. 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The machinery was constructed by Messrs. John Elder & Co., of Glas- 
gow. Each screw will be driven by an independent set of compound 
engines with three vertical inverted cylinders of the collective power of 
4,000 horses, giving an aggregate power of 8,000 horses (indicated) for 
both sets of engines. The diameter of the high pressure cylinder is 
70 inches, and the diameter of each low-pressure cylinder is 90 inches ; 
the former is placed between the two latter. They are steam-jacketed, 
and are connected together by stay-bolts prolonged to bulkheads, so as 
to serve as ramming chocks. The pistons have a stroke of 4 feet, and 
the number of revolutions expected is 65 per miuute. The piston-rods 
are double, and are connected by crank cross-heads. They are each 7 
inches in diameter, the connecting-rods having a diameter of 9 inches 
and a length of 7 feet 6 inches. The valves are of the piston kind. 
They are worked by link-motions and levers, and are reversed by an 
ingenious combination of steam and hydraulic power. The engines at 
starting are assisted by auxiliary steam-gear, the valves of which are 
fitted to the receiver. The steam from the low-pressure cylinders is 
exhausted into independent surface-condensers, having a total cooling 
surface of 16,000 square feet. The steam is condensed in the interior of 
a series of tubes of J inch external diameter, of which each condenser 
has no less than 6,650. The condensers are constructed to be worked 
as common condensers. The circulating-pumps are actuated by separate 
engines, each having its own feed, bilge, and air pumps worked by levers 
from the cross-heads. The air pumps are made of gun-metal, with a 
diameter of 34 inches and stroke of 2 feet 3 inches, the water being dis- 
charged below the fir nor-deck. With respect to the centrifugal pumps, 
it may be mentioned that they are judiciously placed at so high a level in 
the vessel that in the case of leakage occurring, by which the ship's bot- 
tom may be flooded to as great a depth as 12 feet, they can be worked 
with perfect freedom. There are also double-acting hand-pumps, each 
two coupled; feed donkey-engines, each with double-acting pumps 4 
inches in diameter; bilge-donkeys, each with double-acting pumps 6 



38 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

inches in diameter, and fire-engines, with doable-acting pumps 8J inches 
in diameter. It may be mentioned that the engines which work the cir- 
culating-pumps are also made to pump out the bilge, in the event of the 
ship springing a leak or sustaining damage from being rammed; that the 
centrifugal pumps are sufficiently powerful to perform the same work 
in case of emergency; and that a Kingston valve is fitted through the 
bottom, in connection with each fire-pump. 

Each cylinder is fitted with an expansion-valve, having a variable 
cut off, with an extreme range of from one-sixth to one-half stroke. 
These valves are cylindrical gridiron-valves, of phosphor-bronze,* 3 feet 
in diameter, working on cast-iron gridiron seats, and giving a minimum 
of clearance between the expansion-valve and main slide. They are 
worked by an eccentric on the crank shaft and a slotted lever, and are 
all connected to a shaft in front of the engines, so that they may be 
thrown out by a single handle. Each engine is also fitted with a com- 
mon injection apparatus. The crank-shaft is formed of three pieces, the 
diameter of the bearings being 17J inches. The propellers will be about 
20 feet in diameter, and will be worked outward, the thrust being at 
the after end. The shaft- tubes are of wrought iron, supported by struts, 
while the shafting will be made of Whitworth fluid-compressed steel, 
with solid couplings. It will be hollow, the inner diameter being 10 
inches and the outer 16 inches. The faces of the high-pressure cylin- 
ders are formed of phosphor-bronze 2 inches thick; the liners of the 
cylinders are also constructed of the Whitworth compressed steel, which 
possesses properties rendering it not only extremely light, but at the 
same time much more trustworthy than the ordinary metal used for this 
and shafting purposes. Each engine will be fitted with a governor, to 
prevent racing in stormy weather; and, in addition to the hand gear, 
small auxiliary engines will be erected for turning the main engines. 

BOILERS. 

The steam is to be furnished by twelve boilers, eight single -ended and 
four double-ended. They are constructed of the best Lowmoor plates, 

* This alloy is now gaining favor for cylinder valve-faces where high-pressure steam 
is used, and for bearings where heavy pressures are applied. Its component parts con- 
sist of copper, tin, and phosphorus, and it is capable of being made tough and malle- 
able, or hard, according to the proportions of the several ingredients. It is rendered 
so liquid in the molten state by the addition of the phosphorus that it forms very clean 
castings. 

Messrs. Levi & Kingel, of the Val Benoit Nickel Works, near Liege, Belgium, have, 
for a number of years past, been engaged in making experiments for the purpose of 
improving bronzes of this kind. The results of their experiments are thus summed 
up by M. Dumas : 

" The color, when the proportion of phosphorus exceeds J per cent , becomes warm 
and like that of gold largely mixed with copper. The grain and fracture approximate 
to those of steel, the elasticity is considerably increased, the absolute resistance under 
a fixed strain becomes more than doubled, the density is equally increased, and to such 
a degree that some alloys are with difficulty touched by the file. The metal when cast 
has great fluidity, and fills the mold perfectly. By varying the dose of phosphorus the 
particular characteristic of the alloy which is most desired can be varied at will." 

In a series of experiments at the Royal Academy of Industry at Berlin, a bar of phos- 
phor-bronze (proportions of components not stated) under a strain of ten tons resisted 
862,980 bends, while the best gun -metal broke after 102,650 bends. 

In Austria the following comparative results have been obtained: 

Absolute resistance. 

Lbs. per sq. inch. 

Phosphor-bronze 81,798 

Km pp cast steel 72, 258 

Ordnance bronze ; 31,792 



THE INFLEXIBLE. 39" 

tested to 21 tons lengthwise and 18 tons crosswise, and the pressure of 
steam will be 60 pounds per square inch. The four double-ended boilers 
are 17 feet long, 9 feet 3 inches wide, and 14 feet 3 inches high, with four 
furnaces in each. Four of the single-ended boilers are 9 feet long, 13 
feet 7 inches wide, and 15 feet 6 inches high, with three furnaces each, 
and the four remaining single-ended boilers are 9 feet long, 11 feet wide, 
and 13 feet 4 inches high, with two furnaces, each having a separate 
fire-box. All the boilers are to be clothed with four thicknesses of 
boiler-felt, and covered with galvanized sheet-iron, and are stayed to 
prevent their moving by concussion when the ship is engaged in ram- 
ming. They are to be supplied with water by four feed-pumps, which 
are attached to each engine, the pumps being 1\ inches in diameter, 
and having a stroke of 2 feet 3 inches. In the event of the feed-pumps 
receiving injury, the boilers are provided with four small auxiliary 
engines (one in each boiler-room), and having separate connections 
with the boilers. The two auxiliary engines which are used for wash- 
ing the decks are also arranged to work the fire-engines in the engine- 
room. The safety-yalves are fitted with springs upon an improved 
plan. The smoke-pipes, of which there will be two, are 65 feet high 
from the dead-plate of the lower furnaces. The bunkers, which are 
placed at the water-line along the unarmored sides of the ship, where 
the entrance of shot or water cannot injure them, are built to store 
1,200 tons of coal, and are so disposed that their contents can be 
approached from the upper and lower compartments independently 
of each other. 

RIG. 

The Inflexible is also to possess sail-power, with respect to the ad- 
vantages of which, however, considerable diversity of opinion exists. 
She will be brig-rigged, having two iron masts, but no bowsprit or stay- 
gear. The foremast will be 36 inches in diameter, and will measure 83 
feet 6 inches from the deck to the head, while the mainmast will have 
a diameter of 37 inches, and a height of 96 feet. Each will have a top- 
mast and topgallant mast, with lower yard, topsail yard, and topgal- 
lant yard. The total area of sails will be 18,470 square feet. 

In time of war it is intended that the ship will carry no masts, except 
for signal purposes. 

The anchors, of which there are to be four, will be of Martin's self- 
canting pattern. 

WEIGHTS. 

The estimated weight of the hull is 7,300 tons.* The engines will 
weigh 614 tons. The propellers, shafts, and stern fittings weigh 151 
tons each ; the boilers, smoke-pipes, casings, &c, 522 tons, and the water 
in the boilers when ready for steaming is estimated at 190 tons.t 

COST. 

The cost is estimated as follows : 

Materials $1,307,340 

Engines and appendages 486, 729 

Boilers 100, 116 

Labor 641, 520 

* This weight includes all armor and backing on citadel and turrets, the turrets 
themselves, and the deck-armor. — An English Naval Architect. 

t The admiralty calculation in 1877 of the total weight of machinery was 1,405 tons ; 
but this probably did not include coal-bunkers, stern tubes for propellers, &c. — J.W. K. 



40 

The date named in the navy estimates for the completion of this ship 
is March, 1878. 

As a new type of a man-of-war, the leading features of the Inflexible 
may be summed up as follows : The armor is confined to the central 
fighting portion and to the main substructure which floats the ship. 
An armored deck 7 feet under water divides the vessel into two sep- 
arate portions. The unarmored ends are so constructed that the vessel 
will float even when they are penetrated by shot. The ship has a wide 
beam and a comparatively light draught of water. The deck-houses 
give a high bow and stern, and the turrets are so arranged as to enable 
all four guns to be fired both ahead and astern, or on either beam. 

In perusing the foregoing description of the Inflexible, it has been 
seen that her double bottom is divided and subdivided into an unusual 
number of spaces, and that the water-tight bulkheads have been intro- 
duced to an extent not before attempted, and in fact almost every con- 
ceivable precaution has been taken to make her secure against the ram 
and the torpedo. If, however, she should be fairly struck by several 
powerful fish- torpedoes, it is quite probable she would be crippled, water- 
logged, or possibly sunk. The question therefore presented is, whether 
two vessels of smaller dimensions, each carrying two 80-ton guns in- 
stead of four, would not have been a safer and in some respects a better 
investment. 

STABILITY OF THE INFLEXIBLE. 

During the summer of 1875, or thereabouts, Mr. E. J. Eeed, 0. B., M. 
P., made visits of observation to one or both of the great ships building 
in Italy. After his return to London he pronounced these ships unsafe 
for battle. He said : u The Italian ships Duilio and Dandolo are ex- 
posed, in my opinion, beyond all doubt or question, to speedy destruc- 
tion. I fear I can only express my apprehension that the Italians are 
pursuing a totally wrong course, and one which is likely to result in 
disaster." The charge was promptly met and stoutly denied by the Ital- 
ian minister of marine, from his seat in the Parliament at Eome. He 
said: "Mr. Eeed cannot possibly prove any such statements, because no 
one but the designer and his confidential agents are entitled to have the 
particulars for making the necessary calculations ; and, in case of a half- 
built ship, the intentions of the designer with regard to the disposition 
of a great mass of material not yet arranged and specified form part of 
these particulars." 

The Italians have proceeded to complete these two great ships accord- 
ing to the original design, and trust for both buoyancy and stability to 
their unarmored ends. And in their later and far larger ships, the Ita- 
lia and Lepanto, they have, in full view of Mr. Eeed's criticisms, gone 
still further and abandoned the citadel itself. 

The Inflexible, which is of the same type, and of the plans of which Mr. 
Eeed no doubt had knowledge from the time she was laid down in Feb- 
ruary, 1874, was at this time building, yet nothing was said of the want of 
stability in this ship. The progress of construction continued rapidly to 
advance for three and a half years ; the completed ship was promised for 
1878, and the British public believed that their government would soon 
possess the most formidable and the most perfect warship ever floated, 
when, suddenly, surprise and alarm were created by the announcement 
that it had become a serious question to one or more naval architects, 
outside the admiralty, whether the promised and essential conditions of 
the safety of the Inflexible had been attained. It appeared to a compe- 
tent critic, who had been investigating the subject, that the central cita- 
del of the ship was too small to secure of itself the end designed, and 
that the added buoyancy in the unprotected ends might, in action, soon 



TBE INFLEXIBLE. 41 

be shot away. The Times under date of June 18, 1876, published the 
result of the calculations, and Mr. Eeed brought on the question, on 
similar lines, in the House of Commons. The first lord defended the 
admiralty with conspicuous gallantry, treating the criticisms as a depart- 
mental attack : the papers and letters were called for and laid before the 
house, when it was seen that the naval constructors asserted one thing 
and Mr. Eeed, with no inferior authority, asserted the opposite. Mr. 
Reed said that in action the cork and stores might be shot away, and 
the unprotected ends riddled and water-logged; and that in such an 
event the citadel, though intact, would still capsize. The reply was, that 
the supposed case was too remote a possibility to be considered, and that 
without any unprotected ends the ship would still float. The argument 
became close and intricate. The various means of capsizing a ship were 
considered, as well as the different operations of explosive shells in the 
destruction of cork and stores. The varied perils to which the ship would 
be exposed in battle, with ends riddled — such as the action from the 
waves, the moving of the "free water" within the ship, the pitching and 
the rolling, the running out of the guns, and last, but not least, from the 
action of the rudder as the vessel approached its minimum stability — 
were all discussed and treated of. 

The essential points in the correspondence may be summarized as 
follows : 

First Mr. Eeed said : 

On visiting the Inflexible from time to time, I found that the unarmored ends were 
so very large in proportion to the citadel as to raise in my mind a doubt as to this 
important condition being fulfilled. Observing this, and also the introduction of 
cork chambers, I designed an Inflexible in my own office, and had the whole of the 
calculations made, the result showing that when these cork chambers were destroyed 
the vessel would have no stability whatever, out would be in a condition to capsize. 

Second : 

My objection is not that the Inflexible and other vessels do not possess that final 
reserve of stability, after a severe and protracted engagement, which I consider nec- 
essary, but that the cork chambers will be liable in action to speedy destruction, and 
that the ship will then be left without stability. 

The reply of the admiralty officers, laid on the table of the House of 
Commons, consists of several papers quoted below — First, a letter from 
the director of construction, in which, besides giving the curves of sta- 
bility and tables of calculations as hereafter annexed (as are also Mr. 
Eeed's approximate curves), he also states : 

But when I say that I regard this stability as being sufficient in view of the possi- 
ble diminution of the stability by slow degrees by the blowing out of the cork walls 
and internal solid stores, I desire to add that I regard the possibility of the ship ever 
being reduced to this state as being infinitely remote, although not absolutely impos- 
sible. If the water be kept out of the coal-spaces by the coffer-dams, as I believe it 
will be, the ship will retain an amount of stability far in excess of the Devastation, in- 
cluding her wings added by us. In that case the water will not flow over her decks, 
as is supposed in the model; these decks will remain as high out of the water as the 
fore deck of the Devastation, and we should see no more reason for supposing the sea 
to wash freely from side to side in those decks than in the Devastation. 

In order to justify Mr. Reed's objection, it is necessary to assume still further that 
every atom of solid material, excluding water, in the cellular store-rooms and in the 
cork walls has been blown out of the ship, and that only the battered iron shell remains, 
loading down the ship, but giving her no assistance. With regard to that, I say that 
no heavily-armored ship ever has been designed to comply with such a condition. 

I ought, perhaps, to add that the whole of this discussion turns upon the power of 
the ship to resist the attacks of artillery, and I have endeavored to show that a fair 
balance is maintained between thickness of armor and extent of surface covered by 
armor. But, after all, the power of resisting attacks above water is only one element 
of the defense. We have also to consider the under-water attack. It would be easy, 
following Mr. Reed's course, to lay down some principle with regard to these attacks, 
and to say that no ship is well designed which is not so subdivided as to satisfy cer- 
tain conditions. 



42 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC 



The second paper is from Rear- Admiral Boys, director of naval ord- 
nance. He said: 

Looking at this as a question of naval artillery, I cannot conceive that the conditions 
on which Mr. Reed bases bis argument as to the safety of the ship can be brought, about 
in a naval engagement. These conditions are, practically, that the fore and after ends 
of the ship are to be utterly demolished. Should the Inflexible be made a target for 
continued practice, or be placed in a position similar to a fort whose walls could be 
breached by a battery of fixed guns, it is possible that in time the unarraored parts 
above water might be destroyed; but I do not think, for the following reasons, it is 
possible in a naval engagement to commit the havoc below the water that is presup- 
posed by Mr. Reed : 

1. The difficulty of striking a ship at or below the water-line, particularly one of the 
Inflexible type, that will scarcely ever roll. 

2. The projectiles that would be fired at the Inflex* b le would certainly be arrnor-pierc- 
ing, either chilled iron or steel ; and such shell would not bursb in passing through the 
thin iron sides of the ship, as they require the resistance of armor to ignite the bursting 
charge. 

3. Considering the few guns that are likely to be carried by any ship engaging the 
Inflexible, and the ever-varying distance and bearing that must exist in any future 
naval action, it is next to impossible that any number of shells could be planted in at 
ship in such an exact position (even supposing them to burst) as to "blow out the 
cork from the chambers in which it will be fixed." 

Those in charge of the ship must be devoid of all resources if during the intervals of 
an engagement — for intervals there must be — they could not take some steps, by the 
employment of stopper-mats or shot-plugs, &c, to prevent the unarmored euds of the 
ship from being water-logged ; or supposing the water to come in, to allow it to run 
into the bilge, to be pumped out by the engines. 

If the ship should get a list from water finding its way into the divisions at either 
end above the armored deck, it appears to me there are simple means at hand that can 
be resorted to for balancing her in an upright position. 

I have no hesitation in saying I do not share, for one moment, Mr. Reed's anxiety 
for the safety of the Inflexible in action, from the effect of artillery-hre, as expressed by 
him. 

The third paper is from Yice- Admiral Stewart, K. C. B., controller of 
the navy, the pith of which reads thus : 

The result which has been assumed in this letter (Mr. Reed's) could, in my opiniou, 
only be arrived at if we can suppose the ship lying perfectly helpless and immovable, 
and allowing herself to be attacked by an indefinite number of guns. By this means 
it is possible that a large portion of the unarmored structure above the water might be 
destroyed, but even then, I fail to see how it is possible to destroy or remove entirely all 
material, timber, cork, stores, coal, or other articles which, while remaining in any portion 
of the structure, must exclude water, or prevent water taking their place. To assume 
this ship placed in such a position, is, to my mind, representing an exaggerated state of 
circumstances which could never occur in real warfare, 

Finally, a letter from their lordships indorsing their subordinates' 
views in full. 

Tables of calculations. 

Table No. 1. 



Condition. 



Ship complete, cork in place 

As in b, but in light condition 

Fully equipped ; ends riddled 

As in e, but coal between decks (800 tons) re- 
moved 

As in e, but in light condition 

As in e, but supposing the water in ship when 
upright lor,ked — 

As in k, but supposing main deck kept free 
of water 



Ft. in. 
24 7 
21 10 



26 1 

23 9 

26 8£ 

26 8* 



Tons. 
11, 500 

10, 000 

11, 500 

10, 700 
10, 000 

12, 668 

12, 668 



Beg. 
14 
18 
11 

1U 
15 

11 

11 



a 

53 

a 

re 2? 

Sa 

a; * 



Beg. 
31.2 
31.7 
13.5 

15.4 
20.8 

13.9 

27.4 



Ft. 

3.28 
3. 935 
.568 

.534 
.794 

.705 

2.42 



Beg. 
74.3 
71.5 
30.0 

32.2 
36.8 

32.8 

71.5 



I 
I 



Ft. 

8.25 
8.53 
2.0 

3.09 
2.22 



CO 








ul 




as / 




> 






£C 








3 








o 
















□ 




at / 




LJ 


/ - 






Ul 








QC 


/ J 






K 


tnj : 






S 


: 


Jo 




^j 


\ - 




W 


< 


\ I 




4 


In 


V 




,„„7 



££ 




THE INFLEXIBLE. 
Table No. 2. 



43 



Condition of ship (intact draught 24 feet 7 inches.) 



£3 

©■si 

i- £ * 
H 



1. Ends riddled and one-third of buoyancy of ends! 

clear of coals retained, bat water excluded from > Coals between decks in . . . 
coffer-dams and coal-spaces between decks. ) 

Ditto, ditto > Coals between decks out., 

2. Same as 1, except that the one-third of buoyancy J c } between decks m ... 

of ends referred to is neglected. 5 



Ditto, 



ditto 



Coals between decks out. . 



Ft. 

25 

23 
25 



Ft. in. 



HI 

10 



The following table is given on page 10 of the official report 



1 Inflexible as as- 
sumed in model, 

; un armored ends 
giving no sta- 
bility. 



Devastation with 
forecastle rid- 
dled and giving 
no stability. 



Maximum stability 6, 532 foot-tons 

Angle of maximum stability 13§ degrees . 

Range 30 degrees . . 



5, 237 foot -ton s. 
9 degrees. 
34i degrees. 



In the end the government was forced to yield to public opinion and 
appoint a committee to investigate the subject and report their views. 
The committee so appointed was composed of men of the highest stand- 
ing and integrity, though none of them were professional naval archi- 
tects. It would be difficult to name four men in England whose opinion 
on the points at issue would be entitled to greater weight. They were 
Admiral Sir James Hope, Dr. I. Woolley, Mr. G. W. Eendel, C. E., and 
Mr. Froude, E. E. S. They were appointed in August, and were in- 
structed to consider a series of questions, the investigations of which 
and the experiments made by them seem to have engaged their lime 
UDtil early in December, when their report was submitted to the admi- 
ralty. We quote the essential points from an English journal : 

First. " As to the possibility or probability of the occurrence of the contingencies con- 
templated by Mr. Reed as being likely to happen very early in an engagement, namely, 
the complete penetration and water-logging of the unprotected ends of the ship, and 
the blowing out of the whole of the stores and the cork by the action of shell-fire.'"' 

On this point (according to the official summary of the report) the committee are of 
opinion that the complete penetration and water-logging of the unprotected ends of 
the ship, coupled with the blowing out of the whole of the stores and the cork by the 
action of shell-fire, is not likely to happen very early in an engagement ; further, that 
it is in a very high degree improbable, even in an engagement protracted to any extent 
which can be reasonably anticipated. Nor do they think it possible, except in the 
event of her being attacked by enemies of such preponderating force as to render her 
entering into any engagement in the highest degree imprudent. 

Question two is divided into two clauses ; the first is, " as to whether there would be 
any risk of the ship capsizing if she were placed under the conditions mentioned in 
the previous x>aragraph, supposing that the water ballast were admitted into the double 
bottom of the armored citadel. The committee find that uuder the extreme condi- 
tions assumed, the ship, even without water-ballast, would yet have stability, and 
would, therefore, float upright in still water, and we are of opinion that the stability 
that she would have in that condition, though small, is,iu consequence of the remarka- 
ble effects of free internal water in extinguishing rolling, sufficient to enable her to 



44 * EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

encounter with safety waves of considerable magnitude. The ship under tVse circum- 
sta ces, however, would require to be handled with great cautioD. The . d ussion of 
water as ballast increases the amount of stability, and is thus of advantage as against 
steady inclining forces; but on accouut of the deeper immersion it involves it does not 
materially increase the range of the stability. When the immersion is such as largely 
to increase the depth of the water on the middle deck, it appears that the extinguish- 
ing effect of such water becomes less vigorous, so that in a seaway the ship would, in 
the extreme condition, be safer with a moderate than with a very large amount of water 
admitted as ballast. It must be clearly understood, however, that we should consider 
the ship in a very critical state if reduced to this condition in the presence of a still 
powerful enemy. Her speed and power of turning would be so limited as to pravent 
her being maneuvered with sufficient rapidity to insure her against being effectively 
rammed, or so as to avoid a well-directed torpedo, while the small residuum of stability 
she would possess would not avail to render such an attack other than fatal. Her 
guns would also have to be worked with great caution, and under restrictions imposed 
by the high angle to which their combined movements would in broadside firing heel 
the ship. We have already expressed our opinion that it is in a very high degree im- 
probable that the ship would be reduced to this condition, even in a protracted engage- 
ment." 

The second clause is "whether she would retain a sufficient amount of stability to 
enable such temporary repairs to be executed as would enable her to reach a port/' 
The committee think that the destruction, implied by the extreme condition assumed, 
would be such that nothing effective could be done in the way of repairs at sea under 
any circumstances. 

Question three is also divided into sections. The first is, "whether, all points con- 
sidered, iu so far as can be ascertained from the designs and calculations, the Inflexible 
is a safe sea-going vessel." The committee are of opinion that in the intact condition 
the Inflexible is a safe sea-going vessel. The consideration of her safety, when not in an 
intact condition, properly falls under the investigation involved by the clause which 
follows. 

The second clause is, " whether, when the amount of damage to which the unpro- 
tected ends would be exposed in action is borne in mind, sufficient provision has been 
made to insure, in all human probability, her safety under such conditions. We have 
first to consider what is 'the amount of damage to which the unprotected ends would 
be exposed in action.' We do not hesitate to say that the complete destruction im- 
plied by riddling and gutting is so extreme an assumption that it may be regarded as 
a very highly improbable event even in a protracted engagement; yet recognizing the 
extravagance of one assumption does little toward enabling us to fix a reasonable one, 
and there is no sufficient basis either of actual experience or of experiment on which 
to decide what amount of damage to the ends is probable. Nor can we take refuge 
in adopting and providing for the extreme case as covering all others, because provis- 
ion cannot be made for the safety of the ship in one way without prejudice to it in 
another, and to give undue prominence to any one provision for its security becomes 
a serious error where only a just balance can give the best general result. For exam- 
ple, any extension in the citadel in favor of the unprotected ends would necessitate a 
corresponding reduction of thickness of the armor on the citadel. To the best of our 
judgment, the condition represented under the letters e or/ in the Parliamentary papers 
is that which might be fairly assumed to represent the greatest amount of damage 
the ship would be likely to suffer in any action. This condition represents the unpro- 
tected ends completely. riddled and water-logged, but the materials and cork remain- 
ing and adding buoyancy. Under e the whole of the coal is assumed in place, under 
/ it is assumed to be removed. In adopting it we include any state of partial removal 
of material and partial riddling which may be regarded as its equivalent. We find 
that the ship, if reduced to this condition, would possess both buoyancy and stability 
enough to enable her to face all contingencies of weather, and to exercise all her 
powers, subject, however, to the limitations of speed which may be imposed by the 
character and position of the wounds in the ends, and which might be very serious in 
the condition. The united movement of all her guns from the loading to the firiug 
position would not heel her more than 2£ degrees, and the heel due to her circling at 
the highest speed attainable would not be an element of danger. The actual range of 
her stability would be not less than 35 degrees, which is considerably below the stand- 
ard provisionally laid down by the committee on designs, and referred to iu the Par- 
liamentary papers submitted to us. That standard, however, requires revision by the 
light of more recent investigations of the theory of rolling. It would be, at any rate, 
inapplicable to the present case, because the very waterlogging of the ends, which so 
reduces the range of stability, has a most remarkable effect in preventing rolling. 
Should the damage to the ends go beyond what we contemplate, the ship would still 
be in no immediate danger of being placed hors de combat. The transition from the 
condition e, in which she may be said to begin to have her efficiency impaired, to that 
extreme in which she must be regarded as in a ciitical state in the presence of au 



THE INFLEXIBLE. 45 

enemy, is necessarily a gradual one, because it follows only the progress of destruction 
of the ends, and can only be completed with that destruction. It cannot be said that 
the armored citadel is invulnerable, or that the unarmored ends are indestructible, al- 
though the character of the risks they run is different. But in our opinion the unpro- 
tected ends are as well able as the armored citadel to bear the part assigned to them 
in encountering the various risks of naval warfare, and therefore we cousider that a 
just balance has been maintained in the design, so that out of a given set of conditions 
a good result has been obtained." 

The preceding paragraphs give a summary of the report. In the report itself the 
committee go into details. * * * Among other points the committee refer to the 
great difficulty which exists in hitting objects at sea just where the gunner wishes. 
" Among the chief sources of error in an action at sea are, the motion of the attack- 
ing vessel, the motion of the attacked vessel, the smoke of both vessels, the rolling 
and pitching of the vessel forming the gnn-platform, the imperfect knowledge of the 
distance of the object aimed at, the action of the wind in deflectiug the shot. As re- 
gards the error from imperfect knowledgeof distance, the means of ascertaining which 
at sea are at present very rude, it is to be remembered that the high speed at which 
modern ships of war engage causes them to change their distance with great rapidity. 
For instance, two vessels approaching to or receding from each other at the rate of 
twelve knots vary their distance apart at the rate of 40 feet per second. Errors of 
range from this and other causes are, as might be expected, muck in excess even of 
errors of direction, and a target which is low and wide, like the ends of the Inflexible, 
is much more difficult to hit than one which is high and narrow. Rifled projectiles 
are very devious after ricochet, so that if they fall short of the mark they have little 
chance of producing effect, while, if they go over, they are equally thrown away. As 
regards the effect of the rolling of the ship upou the accuracy of fire, the gun is gen- 
erally fired at the middle of the roll, when the deck is nearly horizontal. At such 
time the speed of the roll is the highest and the disturbing effect greatest, rendering 
it a matter requiring great skill and practice to make anything like accurate firing, 
even at short ranges. 

" It is to be regretted that there are no exact records of the results of naval firing. 
The custom is to record by ocular estimate made from the ships from which the prac- 
tice is carried on. We are, therefore, only in a position to say that such records as we 
have had before us confirm, so far as they go, the conclusion we have arrived at as to 
the improbability of a very large number of shells being planted in the unprotected 
ends. The unarmored structures in question arise 9 feet above the water, and extend 
7 feet below it in the fighting condition of the ship. Their length is about 110 feet in 
front and in rear of the central citadel respectively. The structures to be destroyed 
are thus about 220 feet long in broadside view, by 16 feet high, nearly one-half of 
which is below the water-level, aud can only be reached by shells entering obliquely 
or when the side of the ship is partially laid bare by the action of the waves. Shells 
striking at or about the water-line may rip the middle deck and let water into the 
compartment pierced, although it is expected that the canvas and oakum with which 
the coffer-dam is charged will materially obstruct the inflow. Shells cannot, however, 
lift and blow out all the materials packed in the compartments except they enter very 
obliquely, which implies long range and consequent greatly increased inaccuracy of 
fire. The immersion of the vessel occasioned by the admission of water would in 
itself add to the difficulty of reaching and removing the materials below the water. 
Viewed obliquely or directly ahead or astern, one or other of the unarmored ends 
would derive a considerable amount of protection from the central battery. Shells 
very rarely make large breaches where they enter the side of an unarmored vessel. 
The process of ignition of the bursting charge, commenced on impact, takes a sensible 
time to complete, and the velocity of the shell being high, and but little diminished 
by the slight resistance offered by thin plating, it passes on at least 6 feet to 10 feet — 
corresponding roughly with a time of T ' T; th part of a second — before actual explosion 
takes place. It therefore enters as a shot by a hole of its own figure, and not greatiy 
exceeding it in size, and from the point at which explosion takes place the fragments 
go forward in a cone of dispersion, expending themselves in indenting aud cutting in- 
tervening bulkheads and the opposite side of the ship. The cork wail and coffer-dam 
being only 6 feet thick iu all, most of the shell may be expected to pass through them 
and to open in the spaces inside, unless striking very obliquely. The most effective 
armament to bring against the Inflexible^ ends alone would undoubtedly be one of 
numerous shell-guns. In an iron-clad such an armament is incompatible with armor 
of a thickness to be of the least avail against the Inflexible^ guns. It must be a broad- 
side armament, and this carried at a sufficient height above the water-level to be 
worked in a sea-way would involve an extended areaof armor incompatible with great 
thickness. We cannot, therefore, conceive an enemy deliberately adopting the tactics 
of using or building such iron-clads with a special view to attack the unprotected ends 
only, nor, considering the difficulty of naval fire, do we think firing could be very suc- 
cessfully directed at particular portions of the snip, such as the ends, instead of against 



46 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

the sh'p as a whole. If called on to engage land forts mounting numerous shell-guns, 
the exceptional range of her great guns would enable the Inflexible to choose her dis- 
tance, and to engage beyoud the range at which guns of such inferior power could 
strike frequently or with effect. She could also, in case of need, always retire out of 
action, and choose her own time for renewing an engagement. Probably the most 
-effective mode of bringing a destructive shell-fire to bear on the Inflexible would be by 
a flotilla of gunboats concentrating their fire upon her." 

The committee compare the Inflexible as she is with a new Inflexible, having her 
armored citadel drawn out in length so as to render her much more nearly, if not ab- 
solutely, independent of the unprotected ends, the thickness of the armor being of 
course reduced in proportion to its extended area. It may be assumed that an addi- 
tion to the citadel of at least 30 feet in length would be necessary to satisfy this con- 
dition. The thickness of armor would then be in the new ship 21 inches as compared 
with 24 inches in the present one. If we now suppose the actual Inflexible to meet in 
conflict the new Inflexible, both being armed with the most powerful guns existing, 
which are capable of piercing 22 inches of armor, the new ship with her 21 inches of 
armor would be in immediate danger of receiving a mortal wound by the penetration 
of her citadel, where the vital parts are so crowded together that one blow might be 
fatal, and would almost certainly seriously cripple her. The possibility of ultimately 
crippling the enemy by a multiplicity of slight wounds in his unarmored extremities 
would do little or nothing practically to diminish the disparity arising from the fact 
that one ship possessed penetrable and the other impenetrable armor. Great accuracy 
of fire would only render it more certain that the penetrable citadel of the supposed 
new ship would be struck and pierced before the destruction of the ends of the other 
ship could be completed. In such a case the conclusion seems inevitable that the 
actual Inflexible would be greatly the superior vessel, and if any increase in the power 
of existing guns takes place, the same argument would induce a shortening and thick- 
ening of the armored citadel walls rather than the reverse. Nor would there appear 
to be a corresponding loss of advantage to the actual Inflexible as compared with the 
supposed new one, in the event of her having to engage weak iron-clads or unarmored 
vessels which might be able to bring against her numerous shell-gans equally useless 
against 21-inch and 24-inch armor, and therefore only able to attack the unprotected 
ends, because, conceding to the Inflexible the same accuracy of fire which must be 
assumed for the enemy before we can contemplate the tire of the shell-guns destroying 
the unprotected ends, either Inflexible would have speedily planted among her oppo- 
nents the few blows necessary to disable them. 

The committee conclude with the following recommendations: 

" 1. Looking to the unexpectedly great demand on the ship's longitudinal stability 
which may possibly ensue under the circumstances referred to * * we think it 
deserving of careful consideration whether it will not be advisable to extend the cork 
chambers longitudinally to the extreme ends of the ship and upward to the upper deck. 

" 2. We suggest for consideration that the travel of the guns on their slides should be 
reduced, and that they should either be so placed in the turrets that they may range 
equally on each side of the center or otherwise, that a slight alteration of the distribu- 
tion of weight in the turret should be made for the purpose of bringing the center of 
gravity of the turrets and guns over the center of evolution when the guns are at the 
middle of their range on the slides. At present the inclining moment due to the run- 
ning out of the guns is over 1,600 foot-tons, and becomes a serious element of danger 
as the ship approaches the riddled and gutted condition. It might by the measures 
proposed be reduced to little more than one-third of that amount. 

" 3. We note that the total pumping power which the Inflexible will possess, including 
the use of the circulating-pumps, is capable of throwing out 4,500 tons of water per 
hour ; and it is understood that in providing that amount of power a large increase 
(probably in the ratio of two to one) has been made in the proportion of pumping 
power to displacement hitherto adopted. 

" Notwithstanding this increase, the pumping-power is very disproportioned to the 
enormous extent of the leakage to which a modern ship of war is subject in actiou. 
The 4,500 tons per hour mignt be thrown out by 200 horse-power well applied, and it 
appears to us to be a conclusion not to be admitted except after the most exhaustive 
inquiry that a ship which has at her disposal for motive purposes 8,000 horse-power 
should not have more than 200 available for pumping purposes when she has been 
struck in a vital part by ram or torpedo. 

" We do not pretend to say how large a proportion of the engine-power could be made 
available, but we think it right to draw attention to the subject as one demanding 
grave consideration. 

" 4. Having expressed the opinion that future progress in the construction of armored 
ships lies in the adoption of an efficient system of armor, combined with some cellular 
or equivalent structure, we canuot but feel desirous that the best mode of dealing 
with shot and shell in the unarmored portions of the ends should be m*de the sifb- 
ject of careful aud systematic experimental inquiry. Such inquiry should einbraie 



THE INFLEXIBLE. 47 

not only tl e form and distribution of the shells themselves, but also the best mate- 
rial, if any, with which they might be wholly or partially filled. It is to be regretted 
that a similar recommendation of the committee on designs was so imperfectly adopted ; 
but even the partial experiments made in 1872 added materially to our information, 
and, so far as they went, they justified the adoption of the cork-filled cells and oakum- 
and-canvas-packed coffer-dams of the Inflexible. If, however, as we believe, the time 
has come when cellular structures must form an important feature in a ship's design, 
the area and scope of such experiments should be greatly enlarged ; and we strongly 
recommend this subject to the serious consideration of their lordships. 

" 5. Results which have been obtained in the course of the experiments at Torquay on 
the resistance of ships show that a considerable increase of the extreme breadth of 
the Inflexible, if accompanied by a corresponding fining of the ends so as to keep the 
displacement unaltered, would, if anything, diminish the resistance of the intact ves- 
sel to propulsion at full speed. Supposing the ship thus increased in beam by 10 feet 
and the citadel shortened, so as to retain the same perimeter and thickness of armor, 
her transverse stability would then be about doubled in the e and / conditions, and 
in the riddled and gutted conditions would be more than it now is in condition e or/. 

''Her longitudinal stability in the riddled and gutted condition would be reduced 10 
per cent., but would not be diminished in condition e and scarcely appreciably so inf. 
The increase of beam, would also add to the area of the citadel in a horizontal plane, 
and thus increase the buoyancy in the riddled condition. 

" We note that the beam of the Inflexible was limited by the consideration of the 
width of the docks available for her repair, but we doubt if this consideration ought 
to outweigh the great advantages which a further increase of beam would give to ves- 
sels of the Inflexible type. We are the more inclined to doubt it because at present 
docks capable of accommodating vessels of any breadth can be constructed of iron 
rapidly, and at no serious cost in comparison with that of such vessels as the Inflex- 
ib le. 

" We therefore, in conclusion, desire to bring under the very serious consideration of 
their lordships the necessity, before proceeding with the construction of more vessels of 
the type of the Inflexible, of thoroughly investigating whether by more beam their 
safety may not be largely increased without impairing their speed and efficiency." 

It must have been apparent to every one who has read the proceedings 
in this case and considered the subject-matter, that the real question is 
not so much what might possibly happen in a certain extreme supposed 
case, as whether this extreme condition lies within the limits of reason- 
able probability; for, assuming that the probability is infinitesimally 
small, the question of the resulting effects may be entirely disregarded. 
Upon this point the committee use very clear and decided language ; 
they say that "such an extreme condition is in a very high degree im- 
probable even in a protracted engagement." Of course this is a pre- 
sumptive opinion, but it is sustained by opinions of able naval officers 
of high rank whose letters on the subject have been published; and as 
the question is not a naval architect's question, the opinions of the com- 
mittee, backed by professional officers, is, in the absence of experience, 
the best authority attainable. 

It is impossible to secure immunity from risk in battle. If this much- 
discussed question should ever be practically tested in actual warfare, 
the Inflexible in like manner with the Nelson and Northampton having 
unprotected ends, as well as other British armored ships, if engaged by 
a powerful enemy, will encounter greater risks of being sunk from the 
attacks of rams and torpedoes than from the effects of artillery- fire. 



THE AJAX AND AGAMEMNON. 



The Inflexible having been accepted as the type of the British future 
line-of-battle ship, two others of smaller dimensions have been put in 
process of construction, viz, the Ajax, which was laid down at the Pem- 
broke dock-yard in 1876, and the Agamemnon, commenced at Chatham in 
the same year; besides which a third ship of the same type is provided 
for in the navy estimates of 1877. 

After so full an account of the Inflexible, any detailed description of 
these two sister ships would be a mere repetition. By reference to the 
drawings it will be seen that the leading features of the design are the 
same. They differ only in dimensions, power of offense and defense, in 
motive machinery, and in minor details. 

The cost to build as well as to maintain one of them will be consider- 
ably less than for the Inflexible, and they will be much less difficult to 
maneuver. The length between perpendiculars is 40 feet, and the beam 
14 feet, less ; the mean draught of water 23 feet 6 inches, against 24 feet 
5 inches; and the displacement 8,492 tons, against 11,406. The length 
of the citadel is 104 feet instead of 110 feet, and the armored deck out- 
side of the citadel is 5 feet 10 inches below the water-level, instead of 7 
feet; and the free-board is 9 feet 6 inches. The cork chambers extend 
forward of the citadel 30 feet, and abaft it 37 feet ; in depth they are 12 
feet, 6 feet be^ow water and 6 feet above. The coffer-dam is of the 
same length, and 2 feet wide. 

The defense is considerably reduced ; the armor on the water-line 
being, first, 10 inches of teak next to the iron hull, faced by 8 inches of 
iron ; then 9 inches of teak faced with 10 inches of iron, making in all 
18 inches of iron and 19 inches of teak, against 24 inches of iron and 
25 inches of wood in the larger ship. 

The armament will consist of four 33-ton guns, worked on the 
hydraulic system, against four 80-ton guns. The maximum indicated 
horse-power is to be 6,000, and the speed is expected to come up to that 
of any armored ship afloat. 

The following are some of the dimensions and particulars : 

Length between perpendiculars 280 feet. 

Length over all , 301 feet 9 inches. 

Breadth, extreme 6G feet. 

Draught of water, forward, loaded 23 feet. 

Draught of water, aft, loaded „ 24 feet. 

Depth of hold from top of citadel 2L feet 4 inches. 

Area of immersed midship section 1, 402 square feet. 

Displacement 8, 492 tons. 

Free-board ... , . 9 feet 6 inches. 

Length of citadel 104 feet. 

Distance from stern to citadel 88 feet 6 inches. 

Depth of citadel 15 feet 6 iuches. 

Thickness of side of citadel 3 feet 1 inch. 

Distance between decks, lower 6 feet 6 inches. 

Distance between decks, upper 6 feet. 

48 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 49 

Depth of armored deck below water-line 5 feet 10 inches. 

Number of turrets 2 

Diameter of turrets, external 30 feet. 

Height of top of turrets above water-line J 7 feet 6 inches. 

Projection of rani . . - . . 9 feet. 

Depth of point of ram below water-line 9 feet. 

Width of forward superstructure 16 feet. 

Length of forward superstructure - 82 feet. 

Width of after superstructure 29 feet. 

Length of after superstructure 92 feet 6 inches. 

Height of superstructure, extreme 7 feet 9 inches. 

Distance between outer and inner hulls, amidships . 3 feet 2 inches. 

Distance between outer and inner hulls, near bilge. 2 feet 8 inches. 

Distance between outer and inner hulls, near water- 
line 3 feet 10 inches. 

Citadel armor, at water line, 10 inches iron, 9 inches 
wood, 8 inches iron, 10 inches wood, and 1^ inches 
iron ; total thickness 3 feet 2J inches. 

Armament 4 38-ton guns. 

Number of engines, (inverted 3-3ylinder) 2 

Number of cylinders . . 6 

Diameter of cylinders, high and low 54 inches. 

Stroke of pistons . . 3 feet 3 inches. 

Indicated horse-power, maximum 6, 000 

Diameter of crank-shafts . 14£ inches. 

Number of screw propellers 2 

Diameter of screw propellers 18 feet. 

Number of boilers, (return-tubular) 10 

Number of furnaces : 28 

Total grate- surface 647 square feet. 

Total heating-surface 18,062 square feet. 

4 K 



:p-A.:r,t hi. 



THE DEVASTATION. 



THE DEVASTATION. 



The Devastation, as designed in 1869, was a low free-board, sea- 
going turret-ship. She was the first of this character which it was 
determined to build from plans prepared at the admiralty. The great 
question of that day in England, "Turret versus Broadside' 7 for mount- 
ing heavy guns in sea- going armored ships, will still be remembered by 
all persons informed in the progress of naval construction. So strong 
were the supporters of certain views with regard to the former system 
that, notwithstanding the continued opposition of the chief constructor 
of the navy, the order had been given for the Captain, a vessel embody- 
ing these views, to be designed and built by a private firm. The Dev- 
astation may be regarded as designed to compete with the Captain. 
She represented Mr. Eeed r s views of what a sea-going monitor should 
be. Low sides were adopted, but not in combination \wth rigging and 
sails, as was the case in the ill-fated Captain. As originally designed, 
the Devastation was 285 feet long between the perpendiculars, had 62 
feet 3 inches beam, and 26 feet 1J inches mean draught. Her sides, 
which, except right forward, arose only to a height of 4 feet 6 inches 
above the surface of the water, were protected by armor 12 inches 
thick. Her armament consisted of four 25-tou guns, mounted in pairs 
in two turrets, one at each end of a raised breastwork or platform, which 
extended about 150 feet along the middle of the upper deck. The guns 
were thus elevated to a height of some 14 feet above the surface of the 
water. The turrets were protected by armor 12 inches and 14 inches 
thick, and the breastwork by armor 10 inches and 12 inches thick. A 
forecastle extended forward from the fore end of the breastwork, at a 
height of 9 feet 3 inches above the water-line, but in wake of this fore- 
castle the armor on the sides dropped to a height of only 6 inches 
above the surface of the water, this corresponding to the level of an 
armored deck. All the necessary hatchway openings, &c, into the 
ship were led up by iron trunks to a light flying deck, which extended 
between the two turrets, somewhat overlapping each. 

The vessel was to be propelled by two screws, one under each counter, 
and each screw was to be worked by separate pairs of engines, so that 
the ship might be di iven by their conjoint action or by either of them 
working singly. The total power of the engines was to be 5,600 horses, 
indicated, and the estimated speed was 12.5 knots. She was designed 
with a spur bow, the point of the ram advancing some 10 or 12 feet 
under water. The strength of the hull was arranged so as to give great 
support to the bow when ramming. She had a double bottom, the 
space between the two skins, some 3 feet deep, being divided, as is 
usual, into a number of separate water-tight cells, so that injury to the 
outer bottom could only result .in the rilling of one or more of these. 
The hold of the vessel, also, was divided into a number of compartments 
by water tight bulkheads across the ship; so that even in the event of 
a clean breach being made through both bottoms, such as might be 
effected by a torpedo, for instance, she might still have a considerable 
chance for escape, from being able to confine the water to the compart- 
ment or compartments into which the breach was made. 

This was the Devastation as first designed, and the work of building 
was being rapidly pushed forward at Portsmouth dock-yard. The Cap- 

53 



■54 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC, 

tain in the mean time was winning a bigh reputation. She had been 
launched in March, 1869, and had toward the close of 1870 made one or 
two successful cruises. True, when completed, it was found that a very 
important element in connection with the design, the weight of the ship, 
and consequently the draught of water and height of free-board, had 
been loosely calculated; but the error arising therefrom, though 
by no means small, was not regarded as serious; and as it did not 
apparently much influence her sea-going qualities, no special notice was 
taken of it. Her stability was never doubted by her designers ; nor, 
indeed, was her critical state ever properly realized by any one ; any 
doubt that may have existed was smothered by the confidence of her 
advocates. The chorus of praise which she elicited on all sides con- 
tinued to increase, and the question, what the type of British war-ship 
for the future should be, was supposed to be settled in her beyond dis- 
pute. Then came the dreadful news that she had gone down during the 
night between the 6th and 7th of September, off Cape Finisterre. The 
wind had not been unusually violent; the sea had not been exceptionally 
heavy; there were no extenuating circumstances; she had not bravely 
battled with ordinarily rough weather; she was proceeding confidently 
under steam and sails when, in an ordinary squall, she displayed once and 
for all her subtle and treacherous character by slowly turning over and 
becoming the coffin of nearly the whole of her crew, some five hundred 
men, including a large number of accomplished officers. The people of 
England were almost panic-stricken at this terrible news. How it could 
have occurred with the comparatively widespread knowledge relating to 
the subject and. the actual facts and figures of herspecial case before them, 
it was difficult to conceive. To remove the doubt which immediately 
arose as to the safety of the other armored ships, and particularly as to 
that of the Devastation, a special committee was appointed to examine 
into the designs of these vessels. This committee, which consisted of 
many of the highest professional and scientific authorities in England, 
met in January, 1871, and made their report concerning the Devastation 
class early in the following March. After numerous calculations and 
investigations they came to the conclusion that the stability of the 
Devastation was everything that could be desired, and reported that 
"ships of this class have stability amply sufficient to make them safe 
against the rolling and heaving action of the sea." The committee, 
however, agreed in recommending a plan which the constructors of the 
admiralty had proposed with the view of making safety doubly safe. 
By this plan, which was afterward adopted, the stability of the sjiip 
has been very considerably increased ; and besides this, the accommo- 
dation of the officers and men has been very largely augmented. The 
plan consisted in the addition of the side superstructures. They were 
formed by continuing the ship's side upward with light framing, as 
high as the level of the top of the breastwork, and continuing the breast- 
work deck over to the sides. The structures were extended aft on each side 
a considerable distance beyond the end of the breastwork, providing 
two spacious wings, which add largely to the cabin accommodation. 
Some other alterations in the design which were suggested by the com- 
mittee were carried out; among them may be mentioned the introduc- 
tion of athwartship armor-plated bulkheads, so as to afford additional 
protection to the magazines and engines. An alteration of consider- 
able importance had been made some time before, consisting in the sub- 
stitution of 35-ton guns for 25-ton guns, as originally arranged. With 
these and some other slight alterations the vessel was completed. Her 
mean draught of water is now 26 feet 8 inches. Her height of side 
above water-line is 10 feet 9 inches, except right forward in wake of the 



THE DEVASTATION. 



55 



forecastle, where it is 8 feet 6 inches, and right aft abaft the superstruct- 
ure, where it is only 4 feet. 

The following tables give all the dimensions and data necessary to be 
known of this powerful vessel : 

Statement of dimensions, weights, and other particulars of Her Majesty's ship Devastation. 



Dimensions, &c. 



Length between the perpendiculars.. 

Length of the keel for tonnage 

Breadth, extreme 

Breadth, for tonnage 

Depth in hold 

Burden, in tons 

Draught of water: 

Forward 

Aft 

Mean 

Displacement, in tons 

Area of midship section, in square feet. 
Height of port-sills from load water- 
line: 

Fore turret 

After turret 

Height of upper deck at side water- 
line : 

Forward 

Amidships 

Engines : 

Nominal horsepower 

Indicated horse-power 

Speed, per hour, in knots 



Coals, number of tons 

Water : 

Number of tons 

Number of weeks' consumption . 
Provisions: 

Number of tons 

Number of weeks' consumption.. 

Complement of men and officers 

Armament 

Total weight of armor, in tons (in- 
cluding fastening) 

Total weight of backing, in tons (in- 
cluding fastening) 

Depth of armor below water-line, 

amidships 

Height of armor above water-line : 

<*— Kr h i ps ::::: 

O, breastwork 5 i^ship^.... 



Thickness of armor and backing : 

On sides 

On bulkheads at break of deck 

forward 

On bulkheads in hold 

On breastwork 

On turrets 



Thickness of skin-plating behind 
armor : 

On sides 

On bulkheads at break of deck 

forwat i 

On breastwork 

On turrets 

Thickness of deck-plating: 

On upper deck JA;»^»P» 

Oj belt-Jee'u '.'..'.'.*'".'." 

On deck over breastwork 



Estimate 
of April, 1869. 



285 feet in. 
246 feet 3f in. 

62 feet 3 in. 

58 feet in. 

18 feet in. 

4, 406 57-94 

25 feet 9 in. 

26 feet 6 in. 
26 feet 1| in. 

9, 062 
1, 449 



13 feet 6 in. 
13 feet 2 in. 



9 feet 3 in. 
4 feet 6 in. 

800 
5,600 
12.5 
(Estimated.) 
1,700 

16 
2 

9.5 
4 
250 
4 25-ton guns. 

2,307 

306 

5 feet in. 

4 feet 2 in. 

feet 6 in. 
11 feet 5 in. 
11 feet 9 in. 



Estimate of 
November, 1869. 



285 feet in. 
246 feet 3| in. 

62 feet 3 in. 

58 feet in. 

18 feet in. 
4, 406 57-94 

25 feet 9 in. 

26 feet 6 in. 
26 feet U in. 

9, 062 
1,449 



13 feet 6 in. 
13 feet 2 in. 



9 feet 3 in. 
4 feet 6 in. 

800 
5, 600 
12. 5 
(Estimated.) 
1,600 

16 
2 



4 

250 
4 30-ton guns. 



306 
5 feet in. 

4 feet 2 in. 

feet 6 in. 
11 feet 5 in. 
11 feet 9 in. 



Estimate of 
January, 1871. 



285 feet in. 
246 feet 3f in. 

62 feet 3 in. 

58 feet in. 

18 feet in. 

4, 406 57-94 

25 feet 9 in. 

26 feet 6 in. 
26 feet H in. 

9,090 
1,454 



13 feet 6 in. 
13 feet 2 in. 



9 feet 3 in. 
4 feet 6 in. 

800 
5, 600 
12.5 
(Estimated.) 
1,600 

16 
2 



4 
250 
4 35-ton guns. 

2,482 

306 

5 feet in. 

4 feet 2 in. 

feet 6 in. 
11 feet 5 in. 
11 feet 9 in. 



Actual dimen- 
sions, &c, as 
completed in 
April, 1873. 



285 feet in. 
246 feet 3| in. 

62 feet 3 in. 

58 feet in. 

18 feet in. 

4, 406 57-94 

26 feet 3 in. 

27 feet 1 in. 
26 feet 8 in. 

9,298 

1,487 



12 feet 11 in. 
12 feet 7 in. 



8 feet i 
10 feet 



m. 
in. 



8D0 

6,633 

13.84 

(Actual.) 

1,350 

30 
3 

19 
6 
329 
4 35-ton guns. 

2,581 

314 

5 feet 6| in. 

3 feet 1\ in. 
nil. 

10 feet 10J in. 

11 feet 2£ in. 



Armor. 



Inches. 

12&10 

12 



12&10 
14<fel2 



Back- 
ing. 



Inches. 
18 
16 



18&16 
15&17 



i! 

U 

2 

If 

3&2.J 



Armor. 



Inches. 
12&10 



12&10 
14(fel2 



Back- 
ing. 



Inches. 
18 



18&16 
15&17 



1.} & H 

If 

U 

2 

u 

3 <fc 2i 



Inches. 

12&10 

12 



12&10 
14&12 



Back- 



Inches 

18 



18&16 
15<fel7 



U&li 
H 

U 
1* 

3 
2 
3 
1 



Armor. 



Inches. 

12&10 

12 
4, 5&6 
12<fcl0 
14&12 



Back- 



Inches. 

18 

16 

10 
18&16 
15&17 



1* 

U 
li 

3 
2 
3 
2 



56 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



Statement of dimensions, weights, and other particulars of Her Majesty's ship Devastation, 
as completed for sea, and as estimated at various dates. 



Weights, &c. 



Water for two weeks : 

Tare of tanks 

Provisions, spirits, &c., for four weeks 

Tare of casks 

Officers' slops and stores 

Tare of casks, boxes, cases, &c 

Officers, men, and effect s 

Mast and derrick for hoisting boats 

Cables 

Anchors 

Boats 

Warrant-officers' stores 

Armament 



Estimate of 
Apr., 1869. 



Tons. 

18.8 

12.5 

12.0 
32.0 



Total weight of rigging, guns, and ship's 
stores 



87.5 
25.0 
12.0 
34.0 
355.0 
(4 25-ton guns) 



Engines, and boilers with water in, including 
engines for turrets, ventilating and fire 
service, spare gear, &c 

Engineers' stores 

Coals 



Total weight of equipment to be received 
on board 



Weight of hull 

Weight of protective deck-plating, including 

glacis-plates and armored skylights 

Weight of armor, exclusive of turret and 

pilot-tower ar mor 

Weight of backing, exclusive of turret and 

pilot -tower backing 

Weight of turrets 

Weight of pilot- tower 

Weight of conning-hoods 



Total displacement required 

Total displacement per drawing 

Difference 



588.8 



970.0 

15.0 

700.0 



3, 273. 8 

2, 874. 

413.0 

1, 604. 

266.0 
590.0 



15.0 



035.8 
062.0 



26.2 



Estimate of 
Nov., 1869. 



. Tons. 

18.8 

12.5 

12,0 
32.0 



87.5 
25.0 
12.0 
34.0 
422. 2 



Estimate of 
Jan., 1871. 



Tons. 
18.8 
12.5 

12.0 

32.0 
20.0 
87.5 
25.0 
12.0 
34.0 
512. 2 



(4 30-ton guns) i (4 35-ton guns) 



656.0 



952.0 

15.0 

1. 600. 



3, 223. 

2, 894. 

413. 

1, 626. 

256.0 
581.0 



766.0 



982.0 

15.0 

1, 600. 



9, 008. 
9, 062. 



54.0 



3, 363. 

2, 487. 

522.0 

1, 542. 

256. 
592.0 
110.0 



8, 872. 

9. 090. 



218.0 



Actual 
weights, &c. 
as completed 
in Apr., 1873. 

Tons. 

40. 

24.0 

12.0 

42.0 
20.0 
70.0 
23.5 
12.0 
50.0 
514.5 
(4 35-ton guns) 



80S.0 



1, 064. 

23.0 

1, 350. 



3, 245. 

% 882. 

556.0 

1, 629. 

254.0 
622.0 
110.0 



9, 298. 
9, 298. 



Nil. 



"This includes the superstructure added in January, 1871, and the additions recommended by the 
committee on designs. 

Estimated consumption of coal in the Devastation, at speeds of ten and twelve knots, 



Coal carried, 1,600 to 1,700 tons : 
Statement in Mr. Reed's memorandum on new designs for iron-clad 
.-hips, dated 2d March, 1869, page 311, report of committee on de- 
signs of ships (printed for Parliament) 

Coal carried, 1,400 tons : # 

Calculations based on results of measured-mile trial, 31st October, 

1872 

Coal carried, 1,600 tons: 
Calculations based on results of measured-mile trial, 31st October, 

1872 

Coal carried, l,40u tons: 

Calculations based on six hours' trial, 15th April, 1873 

Coal carried, 1,600 tons : 
Calculations based on six hours' trial, 15th April, 1873 



Speed of ten 
knots an hour. 



'1 



Knots. 

4, 320 

4,580 

5,236 
4,876 

5, 572 



■si 

55 



Days. 



21.8 
20.31 

23. 21 



Speed of twelve 
knots an hour. 



S • 
.3 Sf 



Knots. 



2,880 



3,300 
3,109 
3,553 



Days. 



10 

11.5 
10. 79 
12. 33 



THE DEVASTATION. 57 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The Devastation is propelled by twiii screws, each driven by an inde- 
pendent pair of engines. These engines, which have been constructed 
by Messrs. John Penn and Sons, of Greenwich, are of that firm's direct- 
acting trunk type, contracted for prior to the adoption of compound 
engines, and they have cylinders 88 inches in diameter, and truuks 36J 
inches in diameter; the trunks reducing the effective area of the pistons 
to that due to a diameter of 80 inches. The cylinders are steam jack- 
eted, both at sides and ends, and the stroke of pistons is 3 feet 3 inches. 
The engines are fitted with expansion-gear, which enables the steam to 
be cut off at any required part of the stroke. The main slide-valves are 
double-ported, and fitted with an equilibrium-ring. The expansion- 
valves are of the gridiron form, with a variable stroke and cut-off. The 
admission of steam to the engines is regulated by equilibrium -valves, 
which are worked by screws and suitable gearing, led away to the 
starting-platform. To insure ready handling of the engines, small aux- 
iliary slide-valves are fitted to each cylinder. Each pair of engines is 
fitted with a surface-condenser containing 5,432 § inch tubes 6 feet 3J 
inches long ; the condensing surface for each pair of engines being thus 
6,710 square feet. The tubes are packed with screwed glands and tape 
packing. The air-pumps and the circulating-pumps are double-acting, 
and are worked direct from the pistous. The condensing water is drawn 
through the tubes and the steam admitted to the outside. The crank- 
shafts are in two pieces, with solid couplings forged on. The turning- 
gear consists of a worm-wheel and worm, worked by hand by means of 
a long ratchet-lever. The disconnecting coupling is fitted with four 
steel pins, which cau be drawn out of gear by means of screws and 
ratchet- spanners. The thrust of the propellers is taken by a bearing 
fitted with ten movable collars. The screw-propellers are 17 feet 6 
inches in diameter, and have 19 feet 6 inches pitch, and are so fitted 
that the pitch can be varied from 17 feet to 22 feet. The number of 
blades to each is four, and the propellers are formed on the Griffith 
principle. The boilers are eight in number, of the old kind, and con- 
tain thirty-two furnaces, the four boilers in the forward fire-room having 
four furnaces each, while of the four boilers in the alter fire room two 
have three and two have five furnaces each. The length of bars is 6 
feet 6 inches, and the width of furnaces 3 feet 2 inches, the total fire- 
grate area being thus 779 square feet. The boilers contain in all 2,592 
tubes 3J inches in diameter and 6 feet long. The working pressure of 
steam is 30 pounds per square inch. The total heating surface is 17,806 
square feet. A superheater is fixed in each chimney, of which there are 
two, the total superheating surface exposed being 1,866 square feet. 
The chimneys are telescopic, and are fitted with hoisting-sear and shell- 
proof gratings at the bottom. The length in the ship occupied by the 
engines is 32 feet, and that by the boilers 80 feet, this latter length 
being divided into two equal compartments, separated from the engines 
and each other by water-tight bulkheads. Telegraphs are fitted be- 
tween the engiue-rooius and the bridge, and, in addition to the ordinary 
means of ventilation, fans are fitted, driven by independent engines. 
A powerful fire-engine is provided with pipes leading to all. parts of the 
ship. Engines are also fixed for moving the capstans and hoisting the 
ashes. The weight of engines and boilers complete, with water in 
boilers and 'condensers, and including spare gear and all the fittings 
above enumerated, is 985 tons, or but 388.6 pounds per indicated horse- 
power developed when working at full power on the official trial. The 



58 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

following results were obtained on the measured mile, September 2, 
1872: 

Ft. In. 

Draught of water forward 26 4 

Draught of water aft 26 6 

Immersion of upper edge of screw 7 2 

Pressure of steam in engine-room, 27 pounds. 

Full power. Half power. 

Revolutions 76.76 63 

Mean pressure in cylinders, starboard 22. 066 12. 88 

Mean pressure in cylinders, port ... 21. 53 14. 41 

Indicated horsepower, starboard „ 3, 359. 21 1, 566. 03 

Indicated horse-power, port 3, 278. 5 1, 838. 89 

Knots. Knots. 

Speed of vessel , 13. 839 11. 909 

Immersed midship section, 1,460 square feet at 26 feet 5 inches 
draught. Coefficient, 582. 

During the full-power six-hour trial there were developed by the tw T o 
pairs ol engines 5,678 horse-power, and the areas of grate, heating, 
and condensing surface, per indicated horse-power, were as follows: 

Square feet. 

Fire grate 0. 137 

Heating surface 3. 136 

Heating surface, including superheating surface 3. 465 

Condensing surface 2. 363 

The trial cruises of the Devastation, to ascertain the degree of success 
attained in the design as an engine of war, as well as her sea-going 
qualities, were made in the summer of 1873 ; and it may be said with 
confidence that never before did the proceedings of any single vessel 
elicit so large an amount of public interest as did those of this ship. The 
novelty of her design as an ocean-cruising man-of-war, her odd appear- 
ance, and her fighting power, formed continued topics of discussion in 
the scientific and other papers, but the real source of interest to the 
English people was doubtless to be found in the fact that the vessel was 
looked upon by the general public as belonging to the same type as the 
unfortunate Captain. Hence, notwithstanding the vital points of differ- 
ence between the two vessels, to which attention had been repeatedly 
drawn, her trials were watched with an interest amounting almost to 
anxiety. 

The preliminary trials had reference principally to the performance of 
the engines, boilers, turrets, and other machinery. The great impor- 
tance of the first of these will be evident, since the vessel is an ocean- 
going cruiser, without masts and sails — i. e,, she is entirely dependent 
on her engines for propulsion. As has been seen, at the full-speed 
measured-mile trial a speed of 13.8 knots per hour was obtained, the 
engines indicating 6,637 horsepower ; aud from a series of continuous 
steaming trials at various speeds, it was shown, with her full supply of 
coal, what distances could be run, the result of which have been recorded 
previously. 

The gunnery trials were made subsequently at the usual testing- 
ground off the Isle of Wight. The guns are capable of being raised 
and lowered by hydraulic pressure through a height.of 20 inches, and 



THE DEVASTATION. 59 

may be thus placed for firing so as to obtain any desirable degree of 
elevation or depression in combination with small port-holes. The pro- 
jectiles used in the trials were 700-pound Palliser cored shot, with a 
battering charge of 110 pounds of pebble-powder. At the trial the guns 
were fired first with extreme elevation, and then with extreme depres- 
sion, in all directions around the ship. During two or three trials made 
by the vessel off Portland and Queenstown, the difficulty of judging of 
her behavior, with reference to the seas inducing that behavior, as 
comparer! with the behavior of ships of ordinary form under similar cir- 
cumstances, suggested the desirability of prosecuting the ocean trials in 
company with some ship or ships of about the same dimensions bnt of 
less unusual type. Carrying out this idea, the vessel was placed in 
company with the Agincourt and Sultan, and thus made to form part 
of a division of the channel squadron. The Agincourt is one of the 
early ironclads, having been built in 1862-'65. She is 400 feet long, 
and is somewhat heavily rigged with five masts. She is completely 
protected by armor 5^ inches thick. Her armament consists of twenty- 
eight pieces in two rows, after the old style of frigates; but although 
the thickness of her armor and the weight of her guns are now out of 
date, she is claimed to be one of the best sea-boats in the whole fleet. 
The Sultan, on the other hand, is one of the more modern ironclads. 
She is short, not much longer than the Devastation, and is rigged with 
three masts as a ship. Her armament, consisting of twelve guns, is 
mouuted in a central two-storied battery and protected by thick armor. 
The water line also is protected by a belt of thick armor. 

A scientific gentleman who was on board the Devastation during 
these sea trials wrote a highly interesting and valuable account of the 
proceedings, and, as a matter of interest in relation to the behavior of, 
this class of vessels at sea, the notable points of this letter are extracted, 
as follows: 

The squadron, consisting of these three vessels, put to sea from Plymouth Sound at the 
end of August, 1873; the programme laid down heing to proceed to Bear Haven, on the 
southwest coast of Ireland, and from this point make occasional cruises into the open 
Atlantic, as suitable weather should occur. This programme was pretty strictly adhered 
to in all respects. The vessels arrived and anchored off Bear Haveu on the 2d of Sep- 
tember, after a cruise of four days, during which many points of interest came out, 
although no very heavy weather was met with. For purposes of comparison in pitch 
ing»and lifting, &c, the Sultan had the height of the Devastation's upper deck at 
side painted on her in a broad white stripe, so that the behavior of the two ships 
might be quickly appreciated apart from the records of instruments. The lowness of 
the extremities of the Devastation gives a great deal of interest to the pitching and 
lifting (really the longitudinal rolling) of the vessel. Two trials were made, one on 
the 9th and the other on the 15th of September. On the first of these occasions, she 
was accompanied by the Saltan only, and on the second she was accompanied by the 
Agincourt only. The seas met with on the 9th of September were lumpy and irregu- 
lar, the wind having shifted somewhat suddenly during the previous night. Having 
got well out to sea, about 40 miles off land, the wind was found to be blowing rather 
north of west with the force of a moderate gale, its speed varying from 40 to 45 miles 
per hour; and the largest of the waves were found to vary from 300 to 350 feet in 
leugth from crest to crest, occasionally reaching 400 feet — the greatest heights from 
hollow to crest being 15 and 16 feet. Going head to sea, at from six to seven knots, 
both vessels pitched considerably; the Devastation, however, had the best of it, pitch- 
ing through smaller angles than the Sultan. The latter vessel was remarkably lively ; 
at one moment she was to be seen with her forefoot completely out of water, and the 
next with her bow dipped down to so great an extent that it was difficult to see from the 
flying deck of the Devastation — although the ships were pretty close together — whether 
the sea did not really break inboard ; and this notwithstanding that the bow of the 
Sultan rises forward some 30 feet above the surface of the water. On the other hand, the 
forecastle-deck of the Devastation was repeatedly swept by the seas, to each of which 
she rose with surprising readiness; indeed, it invariably happened that the seas broke 
upon her during the upward journey of the bow, and there is no doubt it is to this 
fact that her moderate pitching was mainly due, as the weight of the water on the 



60 

forecastle-deck during the short period it remained there acted as a retarding force, 
preventing the bow from lifting as high as it otherwise would, and this of course limited 
the succeeding pitch, and so on. The maximum angle pitched through on this occasion, 
i. e., the angle between the extreme elevation and depression of the bow, was 7£°. Each 
vessel behaved extremely well when placed broadside onto the sea, rolling very little. 
The trial of the ship on the 15th of September, in company with the Agincourt, was bj r far 
the most severe of any. Early in the morning the vessel got under weigh aud steamed 
out to sea, accompanied by the Agincourt. The wind was blowing with considerable 
force from the northwest, while the sea was at times very regular, long, and undu- 
lating ; just the sort to test the rolling propensities of a ship, but scarcely long 
enough to be most effective in doing so, either in case of the Devastation or Agincourt. 
The largest waves ranged from 400 to 650 feet long, and from 20 to 26 feet high. The 
ships were tried in almost every position with regard to the direction of the sea, and 
at various speeds, the result in point of comparison being extremely interesting, 
and, so far as the Devastation was concerned, very satisfactory. With the sea dead 
ahead, and proceeding at about seven knots, the Devastation pitched rather more 
than the Agincourt, although the great length of the latter compared with that of 
tbe former caused her bow to rise and fall through a much greater height, giving 
her the appearance of pitching through a greater angle. The usual angles pitched 
through by the Devastation, measuring the whole arc from out to out, were from 5° 
to 8°; the maximum angle pitched through was, however, 11|°. The scene from 
the fore end of the flying deck when the vessel was thus going head to sea was 
very imj)osing. There was repeatedly a rush of water over the forecastle, the various 
fittings, riding-bitts, capstan, anchors, &c, churning it up into a beautiful cataract of 
foam ; while occasionally a wall of water would appear to rise up in front of the vessel, 
and dashing on board in the most threatening style, as though it would carry all before 
it, rushed aft against the fore turret with great violence, and, after throwing a cloud of 
heavy spray off the turret into the air, dividing into two, pass overboard on either side. 
All the hatchways leading below from the upper deck were closed ; it was not, however, 
thought necessary to close the doors in the sides of the trunks leading up from the main 
hatchways to the flying deck, most of the men on deck preferring to remain here under 
the overhang of the flying deck. It was quite the exception for the water coming over 
the bow to get much abaft the fore turret; but this, however, occurred occasionally. 
The foremost turret makes a most perfect breakwater ; it receives with impunity the 
force of the water, which, after spending itself against it, glances off overboard, leav- 
ing two-thirds of the deck seldom wetted. There was oue sea which came on board, 
while thus proceeds g head to sea, which was much heavier than any other ; it rose in 
front of the vessel some ten or twelve feet above the forecastle, and broke on the deck 
with great force, for the moment completely swamping the fore end of the vessel. A mass 
of broken water swept up over the top of the fore turret, and heavy volumes of spray 
extended the whole length of the flying deck, some small portion of it even finding its 
way down the fnnnel-hatchway — which had been left uncovered — into the fore stoke- 
hole. It should be borne in mind that the angles pitched through, given above, do 
not measure the inclination of the ship to the surface of the water, but only her in- 
clination to the true vertical. Pitching and lifting are produced by the vessel eudeav- 
oring to follow the slope of the waves, or, roughly speaking, to keep her displacement 
the same as in still water, both as to volume and to longitudinal distribution. 

As to the depressing effect of the water on the bow, a layer of water one foot deep 
over the entire forecastle exerts a pressure of 65 tons ;- this will produce a change 
of trim of 11 inches, together with an increase in the mean draught of If inches ; i. e., 
the draught of water forward will be increased by 7£ inches, while that, aft will be 
diminished by 3f inches. A layer two feet thick will have double this effect ; one 
three feet thick will have treble the effect, and so on up to a considerable angle. 
This follows from the fact that the front slope of the longitudinal curve of stability, 
up to a considerable angle, is very nearly straight. Hence the effect, even of a 
large body of water passing over the forecastle, tending to make the vessel dive 
down head foremost, is small and of no importance. It modifies, however, the 
transverse stability. When proceeding head to sea there was no appreciable roll- 
ing motion. With the wind and sea on the bow she pitched considerably less than 
w r hen going head to sea, but rolled through 5° or 6°. With the wind aud sea abeam, 
lying passively in the trough of the waves, the maximum angle rolled through was 14° 
from port to starboard, 6£° to the windward, aud 7\° to leeward, and this without 
perceptible pitching. When, however, proceeding at about 7+ knots, with tbe wind 
and sea on her quarter, she rolled through 27-i° from port to starboard, 13° off the per- 
pendicular to windward, and 14^° off the perpendicular to leeward, besides also pitch- 
ing through some 4° or 5°. This is by far the greatest angle she has ever rolled 
through. It is the apparent period of the waves, i. e., their period relatively to the 
ship, which operates in making a vessel roll. The motions of the vessel, both as to 
pitching and lifting and to rolling, were extremely easy. She indeed claims to have 
behaved better than her companion, the Agincourt. Certainly her rolling motion was 



THE DEVASTATION. 61 

somewhat slower, and she rolled less deeply ; when the Agincourt was rolling 17 c from 
port to starboard the Devastation was only rolling 14 c . At to pitching, the Devasta- 
tion may fairly claim to have had the advantage, for, as we have seen, although the 
Agincourt pitched rather less, her bow moved vertically through a greater distance, so 
much so toat while going head to sea at 7 knots she shipped a sea over her high fore- 
castle, showing that, she could not be driven under the circumstances at a much higher 
speed with at least anything like comfort. The behavior of the vessel generally ac- 
corded, with considerable approximation, with what was to be expected under the 
circumstances from the theoretical knowledge possessed on the subject ; and although 
on no occasion during the trials w r ere the waves quite so long as was wished for, the 
data obtained have been most valuable in testing and correcting the theory, so that 
the behavior of this ship, or of any similar ship, in any weather, may now be foretold 
with considerable accuracy. The instruments measuring and recording the behavior 
of the vessel were most perfect in their action. They were personally attended 
throughout the trials by their inventor, Mr. Froude. 

The Devastation has lately been cruising in the Mediterranean. Two 
winters ago, at a public meeting in London, Admiral Inglefield thus 
spoke of her : k - 1 have just returned from Malta, and I saw the Devasta- 
tion, having come into port from a long cruise. The captain spoke of 
the ship as being perfectly seaworthy, wholesome, and comfortable for 
the men and officers, and everything he could wish." 



IPJLIR/T TV. 



THE THUNDERER; THE DREADNOUGHT; THE 38-TON GUN AND 

EXPERIMENTAL FIRING: THE ARMSTRONG 39-TON 

BREECH-LOADING GUN. 



03 



THE THUNDERER 



The Thunderer is a sister ship to the Devastation, launched March 12, 
1872, nearly one year after the Devastation, bat was only being prepared 
for the first commission at the time of my visit, early in 1876. The prin- 
cipal dimensions of the two vessels are aJike ; they differ only in detail 
of construction, in the type of motive machinery, and in armament. 

The Thunderer, like her sister ship, was designed to be thoroughly sea- 
going, and to be capable of performing every service which can be 
required from a first-class modern line-of-battle ship. 

At the date of construction they were admitted to be the most power- 
ful fighting-ships then laid down. The committee on designs of the 
ships of the royal navy gave their judgment upon them in these words : 
"They represent in their broad features the first-class fighting-ships of 
the immediate future." 

A clear understanding of the general arrangement of the vessel will 
best be seen by the annexed drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The fore- 
castle is shown at A, in Fig. 1, where the height of the side-armor 
above and below water is also shown. The position of the armored deck 
is indicated by the black line along the upper edge of the side-armor. 
In Fig. 1, the armored portions are shaded, the unarmored left plain. 
Where the armor is visible from the outside, as on the turrets and sides, 
it is shaded dark ; where concealed by any unarmored structure, it is 
lighter. The breastwork, except at one corner where it is not screened, 
is shaded light in Fig. 1, being concealed by a structure to be noticed 
hereafter. 

An end view of the deck-house, and the hurricane-deck which it sup- 
ports, is seen in Fig. 3, a section through the fore turret. The broadside 
superstructure, as it is usually called, is shown at B B in Fig. 1, and at 
E E in section 3. The superstructures and other parts are clearly shown 
in the plan. Fig. 2, where, commencing with the highest points, 1 1 are 
the smoke-pipes, H is the conning-tower, A A the hurricane-deck, B the 
elevated deck-house which supports it, C C are the turrets, D the breast- 
work, E E the broadside superstructure level with the breastwork, F 
the forecastle, 3 feet lower than the breastwork, and G the armored 
deck, about 7 feet lower than the breastwork in the only part where it 
comes in sight, though it extends, of course, under E and F, and, 
indeed, throughout the ship except inside the breastwork. The same 
letters apply to Fig. 3. The conning-tower will be noticed in Fig. 1. It 
is sufficiently high to give a view over the hurricane-deck bulwarks, and 
wide enough to command a view forward and aft past the smoke-pipes, 
which are oval. 

MACHINERY. 

The Thunderer y \n common with all modern fighting-ships, is operated 
in every essential particular by the power of steam. The motive power 
of the ship is solely steam, and there are in all twenty-eight steam-en- 
5k 

65 



66 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

gines and nine boilers. Thirteen of these engines are in pairs, having 
two cylinders, and the remaining fifteen are single engines, having one 
cylinder only. Two of the pairs are employed for driving the twin 
screws, and are termed the motive-engines. The others are small en- 
gines, employed for subsidiary purposes, such as revolving the turrets, 
working the hydraulic gun-machinery, hoisting shot and shell, working 
the capstans, hoisting anchors and boats, working the steering-appara- 
tus, working pumps for circulating cold water through the surface-con- 
densers, starting the motive engines, pumping water from the spaces 
between the double bottoms, feeding the boilers, hoisting ashes, and 
driving fans for ventilating the ship. In addition to this great respon- 
sibility, the engineer department is charged with all the water-tight 
doors in the ship, and all valves and pipes. In short, the interior of 
the ship is a vast engineering workshop, requiring skill and energy 
successfully to manage it. 

The motive machinery of this vessel, as well as that of the Devasta- 
tion, was contracted for previous to the introduction of the compound 
engine into the royal navy. It was constructed by Messrs. Humphrys, 
Tennant & Co., and the engines are of the horizontal, direct-acting type 
adopted by that firm, and built for several other ships of the navy. 
There is one pair to each of the two screw-propellers ; the cylinders are 
77 inches in diameter, and the stroke is 3 feet 6 inches. The boilers are 
of the old box variety, and a description of them follows, under the head 
of "Boiler explosions.'- In consequence of the explosion of one of the 
boilers in July, 1876, the final official trials at the measured mile were 
not made till the autumn following : the accompanying data of the per- 
formance are believed to be correct. 

Two days after the measured-mile trials on the 4th of January, 1877, 
a crucial test of the working of the machinery by a six hours' continu- 
ous full-power run was made up and down the Solent in boisterous 
weather, the force of the wind being between seven and nine, and the 
sea rough; the following results were obtained as the means for the 
twelve half-hours: 

Pressure in boilers 27. 80 pounds. 

Vacuum, starboard forward engine 27. 3 inches. 

Vacuum, starboard after engine _ 25. 79 inches. 

Vacuum, port forward engine 27. 99 inches. 

Vacuum, port after engine 25. 52 inches. 

Revolutions per minute, starboard 75. 20 

Revolutions per minute, port . - « . . 75. 03 

Pressure in cylinders per square inch, starboard 19. 491 pounds. 

Pressure in cylinders per square inch, port 19. 25 pounds. 

Indicated horse-power, 5,748.97, or 149 horse-power beyond the contract. 

The best quality of Nixon's steam -navigation coal was used, and the 
expenditure was 3.14 pounds per indicated horse-power per hour. 

This ship has proved herself thoroughly seaworthy by successfully 
going through one of the most severe tests that can be applied. On the 
18th of November, 1877, during the very height of a gale of almost 
unexampled fury, even in the English Channel, the Thunderer made the 
passage from Portland to Spithead. On this occasion, as reported by 
her officers, although having her bow immersed to a depth of G feet, her 
reserve of buoyancy was so great that she lifted readily and shook the 
water from her decks freely. As might have been expected, she suf- 
fered somewhat in the more perishable parts ; a great quantity of glass 



THE THUNDERER. 67 

was broken, the steam steering-gear was strained, and in some other 
particulars the effects of the tremendous seas encountered were made 
evident. The admirable behavior of the Thunderer, and her complete 
success under circumstances of an unusually severe character, will 
increase the confidence in the belief that mastless turret-ships may be 
relied upon to perform voyages in the worst weather with safety and 
comparative comfort to the officers and crew. 

ARMAMENT. 

The Thunderer was originally fitted, like the Devastation, with two 
35-ton, 12-inch Woolwich rifled guns in each of the two turrets, mounted 
on carriages similar to those of the Glatton, and known as Captain 
Scott's design ; but after Mr. Eendel brought out his system for working 
heavy guns by hydraulic pressure, it was decided to introduce the prin- 
ciple for the first time into the forward turret of this vessel. Accord- 
ingly the two 35 ton guns were removed, and guns 38 tons in weight, 
having a bore' of 12£ inches, were substituted. The same carriages 
were retained. At the time of my visit all the machinery for work- 
ing these guns had been fitted on board and subjected to the first 
tests ; as, however, deficiencies usually experienced in new and untried 
machinery were expected to be developed, no reports were permitted 
to be made.. Yet it was confidently stated by reliable authority that 
the result of this first trial on board ship was satisfactory, the proof of 
which may be found in the fact that the system has been adopted and 
ordered for the Dreadnought, Inflexible, and other vessels. All British 
service gun-carriages are at present mounted on their slides in such 
a manner as to recoil on a dead bearing, but to run out on wheels 
thrown into action by eccentrics. By placing the carriage perma- 
nently on wheels and trusting more to the compressor to arrest recoil, 
the operation of "tripping" the carriage, i. e., of throwing the wheels 
into action for running out, is avoided. In 1867 and 1868 a partial muz- 
zle-pivoting carriage was made at the Elswick works for an 18-ton gun 
on the plan of raising and lowering the trunnion-bearings of tbe gun in 
vertical grooves formed in the carriage. Captain Scott modified the 
arrangement by the substitution of hydraulic jacks, in combination with 
chocks, for the screw lifting-gear, and by the application of the jacks to 
act from fixed positions in the slide or turret floor on a bow-piece carry- 
ing the trunnions. In this form the system has been applied for heavy 
turret-guns in the British royal navy. It makes the carriage, however, 
high and top-heavy, a disadvantage for naval service which would be- 
come more serious with every increase in the weight of guns. The object 
of muzzle-pivoting is the reduction of the size of the ports. The size of 
ordnance, however, continues to increase with rapid strides, while the 
number of men employed to work the guns cannot be much further 
added to, and the train of mechanism required to apply the constant 
and limited power of men to the forces to be exerted in loading and 
working heavy guns becomes larger and more complicated as the weight 
of the guns is increased. Hence, the adoption of some inanimate power 
in the place of mere hand-labor for loading and working heavy ordnance 
has become an absolute necessity for existing guns, and for those of the 
immediate future. Adopting the steam engine as the most ready and 
convenient source of power, it has been found that that power can be 
best applied through the medium of water under pressure. The sim- 
plicity and compactness of hydraulic machinery, and the perfect control 
it gives over the motion of heavy weights, especially adapt it for the 



68 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

purpose. Power sufficient for the heaviest guns may be transmitted by 
water through a very small pipe for long distances and by intricate ways, 
so that a steam-pumping engine may supply power by this means for 
working many guns. 

HYDRAULIC MACHINERY FOR WORKING THE GUNS IN THE FORE TUR- 
RET OF THE THUNDERER. 

In the turret arrangement of the Thunderer (which differs from that 
of the Iv flexible, and is shown by Figs. 1 and 2) the carriage is placed upon 
rollers. In this carriage the gun is made partially muzzle-pivoting by 
hinging the slide at the rear horizontally, and raising and lowering the 
front end upon a press to three or more positions, in which it can be 
chocked by turning under it the bracketed supports. 

The cylinder, Fig. I, performs the double office of checking recoil and 
moving the gun in or out along the slide. The gun or recoil drives back 
the piston, and is arrested by the resistance which the valve D offers to 
the escape of the water from the cylinder. The valve is loaded with a 
spring, which may be adjusted to give any required resistance, and so 
meet the variations of the force of recoil. It is also partly balanced, to 
lessen the load required upon it. The area of the piston-rod is one-half 
that of the piston, and the gun is run out by admitting the water-press- 
ure to both sides at once. For running the gun in, the pressure is 
admitted to the front of the piston only, the exhaust being at the same 
time opened to the rear. Clack-valves in connection with a waste-water 
tank are used to insure the cylinder being always full, and there is a 
relief-valve on the front for preventing any excessive strain. On the 
rear the recoil- valve acts as a relief- valve upon occasion. It will happen 
in some cases that the pressure required on the valve D to arrest recoil 
falls short of that necessary for running the gun in or out, in which case 
the water admitted to the cylinder for the purpose would lift the valve 
and escape to waste. This is provided for by making the act of open- 
ing the cylinder inlet-valve A place an additional load on the recoil- 
valve I), retaining it there so long as the inlet-valve remains open. 
Fig. 1 shows one method of placing the extra load on the recoil-valve, 
viz, by a small inverted press, having in its normal condition an open 
communication with the waste-water tank, which communication is 
closed and the press charged with water under pressure by the first 
movement of the lever employed to open the inlet-valve A of the recoil- 
cylinder. It was stated that the recoil could be regulated with precision, 
and that excellent control could be exercised over the movement of the 
gun on its slide. By the arrangements described the following advan- 
tages are claimed : The loading operation is transferred from a confined 
space in the port of the turret to a roomy and convenient place on the 
main deck. The dimensions of the turret can be reduced ; one man in 
the turret and one outside may direct and control all the movements of 
a pair of the heaviest guns, and may load and fire them without other 
help than that involved in bringing up the ammunition, and, finally, far 
greater rapidity of fire is attainable than would be possible by manual 
labor. 

An objection raised to this system is the alleged liability to premature 
explosions in loading, and, as a consequence, to risk of self-destruction, 
to which it is said the ship is thus exposed. This objection is, however, 
it is said, obviated by not depressing the gun for loading to such an 
extent as to aim a shot below the water-line, and furthermore provided 
for by a special arrangement for drenching the bore of the gun with 



THE THUNDERER. 69 

water in sponging, and it is eutirely removed by the arrangement that 
will be applied to the Inflexible, in which the loading-gear is placed so 
that the gun is little depressed when in the loading position. 

THE RECENT BOILER EXPLOSION. 

It was after my visits on board the Thunderer and immediately after 
the foregoing account of that vessel had been written that the awful 
disaster occurred, occasioned by the explosion of the forward starboard 
boiler, which produced results more terrible than any accident on board 
a ship of war, from the effects of steam, hitherto recorded. The report 
on the subject will be found under the head of " Boiler explosions." 



THE DREADNOUGHT. 



This ship, recently completed at the Pembroke dock-yard, South 
Wales, is spoken of as a modified and improved Devastation, on a larger 
scale ; but the modifications, resulting from the experience of the trials 
of the former vessel, are such as to change the type. The Dreadnought 
cannot be called a low free-board ship, or a breastwork monitor, for the 
height from the load water-line to the turret-deck is nearly 12 feet, and 
the superstructure is more rjroperly an armored oval citadel or tower, of 
which the sides are those of the vessel carried up from the broadside 
surface ; or, in other words, instead of building a breastwork on the 
deck of the armored hull some 185 feet long amidships, with a passage 
of, say, j feet between it and the sides of the vessel, as was done in the 
Thunderer and other low free-board ships, the sides of the Dreadnought 
are built up flush to the top of the upper or turret deck. This armored 
side rises nearly 12 feet above water, and is extended in length amid- 
ships 184 feet. The design, as will be seen, requires considerably 
more armor than would be used if the vessel had been built on the 
breastwork system, but the advantages derived from having the 
whole width of the vessel below the upper deck unobstructed, affording 
light, with facilities for loading the guns on the hydraulic system, and 
working the turrets, is of importance; besides which, it increases the 
room and allows comfortable quarters for officers and crew above water. 

The citadel, as before stated, is 184 feet in length, and the height be- 
tween decks is 7 feet 6 inches. It is armored with solid plates, 11 inches 
thick, except at the ends and abreast the bases of the turrets, where the 
thickness is increased to 13 and 14 inches. The increased thickness at 
the ends is to protect more thoroughly the bases of the turrets, the 
machinery for working them, and for loading the guns ; in short, all the 
working apparatus inclosed therein. The armor-belt, which is carried 
entirely around the vessel, is 11 inches thick on the water-line, taper- 
ing to 8 inches at 5 feet below water, where it stops. It also tapers 
above water, fore and aft of the citadel, as well as toward the ends. 
This armor-belt, fore and aft the fighting part of the ship, rises only 4 
feet above, water, and is intended solely to protect the vital portion of 
the hull j all parts above it are destructible, and may be riddled with shot 
without detriment to the fighting or sea-going qualities of the vessel. 
The turret-deck, or deck over the citadel, is plated with two courses of 
1£ and 1 inch iron respectively, and the main berth-deck below is also 
plated with the same thickness of metal fore and aft of the citadel; of 
course, no armor on this deck inside of the citadel is needed. 

The turrets rise through the citadel-deck to a height of 12 feet from 
the base or revolving deck-platform inclosed by the citadel. The diam- 
eter of each turret inside of framing is 27 feet 4 inches, the depth of 
the framing being 10 inches. They are built up with two courses of 
plates and two courses of teak in the following manner: First, the shell 
or wall consists of two f inch plates, bolted together and riveted to the 
framing; on the exterior of this shell is a teak backing 6 inches thick ; 
on this, backing, armor-plates 7 inches thick are secured; next, teak 
backing 9 inches thick is fastened on ; finally, armor-plates outside of 

70 



THE DREADNOUGHT. 71 

all 7 inches thick ; all securely bolted together. The plates were rolled 
at Sheffield, and curved to templates drilled and prepared for their 
places. The following are the dimensions of the plates for one turret : 

Inside course. 

No. 1, 15 feet 2J inches by 8 feet 1 inch, by 3^ inches thick. 
No. 2, 15 feet 2~ inches by 8 feet 1 inch, by 3| inches thick. 
No. 3, 11 feet 8 J inches by 8 feet 1 inch, by 3 J inches thick. 
No. 1, 15 feet 2\ inches by 8 feet 1 inch, by 3| inches thick. 
No. 5, 19 feet 6§ inches by 8 feet 1 inch, by 3 J inches thick. 
No. 6, 13 feet £ inch by 8 feet 1 inch, by 3| inches thick. 

i Outside course. 

No. 1, 16 feet 10| inches by 8 feet 2 J inches, by 7 inches thick. 
No. 2, 18 feet 3£ inches by 8 feet 2h inches, by 7 inches thick. 
No. 3, 13 feet £ inch by 8 feet 2f inches, by 7 inches thick. 
No. 4, 14 feet 8§ inches by 8 feet 2J inches, by 7 inches thick. 
No. 5, 21 feet 8| inches by 8 feet 2| inches, by 7 inches thick. 
No. 6, 1 6 feet 7| inches by 8 feet 2| inches, by 7 inches thick. 

The displacement of the Dreadnought when loaded will be 10,950* 
tons, or 1,650 more than that of the Devastation and Thunderer. The 
length between perpendiculars is 320 feet ; breadth, extreme, 63 feet 10 
inches; mean draught of water, loaded, 27 feet. The hull is constructed 
with the usual double bottom, and, including the spaces in it, there are 
sixty-one watertight compartments in the vessel. The same general 
system of divisions and water-tight doors is adhered to, including the 
longitudinal bulkhead, which commences about 40 feet from the stem 
and extends to nearly the same distance of the stern, thus giving back- 
bone and dividing the vessel in the center. 

The flying deck is quite similar to the one on the Thunderer before 
described. The armored pilot-house, or conning-tower, is fitted with a 
steel roof as a protection from rifle-fire, and it is provided with a com- 
plete set of communicating gear for directing the movements of, and 
fighting the ship. 

The exterior of the hull is not sheathed with wood as is usual for all 
cruising-ships. 

There is one mast ouly, to be used for signal purposes and for hoist- 
ing boats, the complement of which includes three steam-launches. 

The armament consists of two 38-ton guns in each of the two turrets, 
all of them being worked on the hydraulic system of Eendel, previously 
described. In addition to which the new weapons, Whitehead torpedoes, 
now carried by all recently-commissioned ships are provided. In this 
case, arrangements have been effected for ejecting them through aper- 
tures ou the lower deck within the citadel. Upon this deck have also 
been built the magazines for storing these torpedoes; here likewise are 
the engine and machinery for charging them with compressed air and 
the appliances for handling the shot and shell. 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The Dreadnought has been engined by Messrs. Humphrys & Ten 
nant. The engines are of the compound type, very similar to thosein 

*The navy list of November, 1876, gives the displacement of the Dreadnought as 
10,886 tons, instead of 10,950 tons, as in former navy lists. 



72 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

the Alexandra, constructed by the same firm, and to be described here- 
after. 

There is an independent set of vertical inverted engines to each of the 
twin screws. Each set consists of three cylinders, the high-pressure ex- 
hausting into the two low-pressure cylinders. The diameter of the former 
is 66 inches • the diameter of each of the latter is 90 inches, and the 
stroke of pistons 4 feet 6 inches. AH the cylinders are steam-jacketed. 
The high-pressure jacket is adjusted to the working boiler-pressure of 
60 pounds, and those of the low-pressure to 30 pounds. The air-pumps 
are of composition, and placed fore and aft, immediately under the low- 
pressure cylinders, from which they are worked. The arrangement is 
compact and accessible, the condensers forming the midship framing, 
while the wing framing consists of two wrought-iron columns to each 
cylinder. « 

The surface-condensers are of the usual variety employed in the Brit- 
ish service. They contain upward of 16,500 square feet of cooling sur- 
face, and are fitted to be worked as common jet-condensers in the event 
of necessity. The condensing water is supplied by two powerful cen- 
trifugal pumps, and an extra bilge- suction is provided, so that the air- 
pumps can receive directly from the bilge in case of an accident by which 
large quantities of water would enter the ship. 

The engine crank-shaft is composed of three pieces, interchangeable ; 
each piece has a length of 10 feet 7J inches, and a diameter of 17J inches. 
The diameter of the propelling-shafts is 16 inches, except the lengths in 
the stern-tubes, of which the diameter is 18 inches. 

The engines are started and reversed by an auxiliary engine having 
cylinders 6 by 8 inches. The ship is provided with six ventilating-en- 
gines, two auxiliary fire-engines, four main fire-engine pumps, steering- 
engines, turret-turning engines, capstan and ash-hoist engines, besides 
the engine and hydraulic apparatus for working the guns ; in all, there 
are twenty-nine steam-engines on board, and there are one hundred and 
eighty valves connected with the ventilating-pipes. 

The screw-propellers are of Griffith's recent pattern, four-bladed, the 
diameter of each screw being 20 feet, with pitches adjustable from 21 to 
26 feet. 

Boilers. — The steam for the motive and other engines is supplied by 
twelve main boilers and one auxiliary boiler, having a total heating sur- 
face of 21,912 square feet. Instead of being arranged in the vessel face 
to face, as are those in former ships, so that the firemen have fires be- 
hind as well as in front of them, they are placed back to back against 
the middle-line bulkhead of the ship • the firing is thus done at the sides, 
convenient to the coal-bunkers. The boiler-rooms are further divided by 
athwartship bulkheads, whereby four rooms are formed, the forward 
ones being 42 feet and the after ones 40 feet in length, the length of 
the engine-room aft of this is also 40 feet. 

The shells of the main boilers are elliptical in shape, 15 feet high by 11 
feet 10 inches wide, and 9 feet 8 inches in length, with three furnaces in 
each boiler ; the shells and tube-plates are f inch thick, and the furnace 
and back-plates J inch. The shells are double-riveted, and butt-straps 
are placed inside and outside the longitudinal seams ; the tubes are of 
composition, and 3 inches* in diameter; each furnace is 6 feet 10 inches 
long, and fitted with 66 wrought-iron grate-bars, 3J inches deep by 1J 
inches broad, and 2 feet 3 inches long. 

In addition to the ordinary safety-valve chamber, containing a couple 
of spring safety-valves, each boiler is fitted with a supplementary test- 



THE DREADNOUGHT. (6 

valve placed on the front of the boiler. The stop-valves and safety- 
valves can be worked from the fire-room floors. 

The engines and boilers are entirely surrounded by the coal -bunkers \ 
the bunker immediately forward of the boilers is 22 feet in length, fore 
and aft, and the one immediately aft of the engines is 8 feet in length ; 
there are consequently 152 feet in the length of the ship by the extreme 
breadth occupied by the motive machinery and coal. The bunkers con- 
tain 1,200 tons of coal only. 

The ventilation of the fire-rooms is supplied by fans, supplemented by 
eight cowls on the hurricane-deck and four others at the side, and 
which are also utilized as ash-hoists. 

As the ship is mastless, steam-power is to be used solely. 

The total weight of the steam-machinery is given as 1,430 tons; hull 
and accessories, 7,350 tons ; all other weights, including coal and stores, 
2,170 tons. 

The improvements of the Dreadnought over the other two mastless 
sea-going ships, the Devastation and Thunderer, or the difference between 
them, may be summed up briefly as follows : The displacement is 1,650 
tons more ; the length between perpendiculars is 35 feet greater, with 
an increase of beam of 1 foot 7 inches, and an increased depth of hold 
of 1 foot 2 inches. 

The structural improvements consist in carrying out the breastwork 
entirely to the sides of the vessel, and in bringing the forecastle and 
after-deck up to near the level of the breastwork, or, rather, armored 
citadel; by this arrangement the facilities for working the guns and 
ship have been greatly increased and better accommodations provided, 
besides which the objectionable cul de sac that exists in the other two 
ships has been obviated, and a high free- board all around is obtained, 
which must make her both a drier ship and a more comfortable cruiser 
than either of the others. 

Another important structural arrangement first introduced here, and 
since adopted in other ships, is the longitudinal water-tight bulkhead 
between the respective sets of engines and boilers ; so that in the event 
of one set being disabled by rams, torpedoes, or other causes, it can be 
effectually shut off, the ship being propelled by the other set. 

The side-armor of the Dreadnought varies in thickness from 8 to 11 
inches, while in the other two ships it varies from 10 to 12 inches, 
besides which it extends 7J inches deeper under water than in the 
former-named vessel. The external diameter of the turrets is 32 feet 3 
inches, and the thickness of its armor is uniformly 11 inches, while the 
other turrets are 31 feet 3 inches in diameter, and the thickness ranges 
from 12 to 14 inches. 

The armament is also more formidable. It consists of four 38-ton 
guns, all worked on the hydraulic system, while the Devastation carries 
four 35- ton guns worked by hand-power, and the Thunderer two 38-ton 
guns worked by hydraulic power, and two 35-ton guns worked by hand. 

Again, the Dreadnought isenginedon the compound system, by which 
greatly increased power is obtained with reduced consumption of fuel. 

The six-hour trial of the motive machinery was made in January, 1877. 
The London Times reports the results as follows : 

Hoars. Vacuum. Revolutions. Horse-power. 

1 27 ins. and 27. 43 f>7. 3 and 67. 4 8,201.52 

2 27 ins. and 27. 18 67. 6 and 67. 4 8,233.78 

3 27 ins. and 27.25 67. 4 and 67. 3 8,179.94 

4 27 ins. and 27. 37 66. 9 and 67. 8,177.77 

5 27. 5 ins. and 27. 43 67. 1 and 66. 9 8,155.93 

6 27 ins. and 27. 37 66. and 66. 8 8, 207. 39 



74 EUKOPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

The mean power developed by the engines during the six hours was 8,216.28, or 
216.28 horse-power beyond the contract. * * * The blasts were not used from first 
to last. * * * The mean boiler-pressure was 60.3 pounds. The mean pressure of 
steam on the pistons was, high, 31.6 pounds ; low, 9 pounds. * * * The coal con- 
sumed on the trial amounted to 50 tons 122 pounds, being equal to 2.27 pounds per in- 
dicated horse-power per hour. The consumption on the six-hour trial of the Thunderer 
was 3.14 pounds. In order to show the superiority of the Dreadnought's compound en- 
gines from an economic point of view, it may be mentioned that had she been fitted 
with engines of the common type, as those of the Thunderer, she would have to burn 
80 tons* a day more fuel to develop the same power as on the day of trial. 

The engines were stopped from full speed in 18 seconds, and from going astern were 
started full speed ahead in 15 seconds. 

The speed of the ship is not given, but the pitch of the screw-pro- 
pellers was 23£ feet, which, with 12J per cent, slip, would give 13.8 knots 
per hour. 

The Dreadnought is now the most formidable fighting-ship on the 
ocean, and next after the Inflexible will be the most powerful ship of war 
ever floated in British waters. 

TRIALS OF THE GUNS. 

What the 81-ton gun can do against an armored target has been seen, 
and as some important results have been achieved with the piece which 
comes next below it in magnitude in the British service, viz, the 38- 
ton gun of the pattern mounted in both turrets of the Dreadnought, also 
in the fore turret of the Thunderer, all being now in practical use at 
sea, besides which others are being manufactured for the sister ships 
Agamemnon and Ajax, it may be interesting for reference and com- 
parison to state as a matter of fact that the 38-ton gun has sent its pro- 
jectile nearly through an armored target of the following combination: 
A 12-inch plate, an 8-inch plate, 6 inches of teak, and a 5-inch plate, 
into which last it penetrated 2 inches, or altogether 22 inches of iron 
and 6 inches of teak. In another instance the projectile was sent 
through a target built up in the following manner: A 4-inch plate, an 
8-inch plate, 6 inches of teak, a 5-inch plate, 6 inches of teak, and an 
inner 1-inch skin supported by angle-irons, making altogether 18 inches 
of iron and 12 inches of teak. This was done at close quarters. Be- 
sides, in October, 1876, at a range of 70 yards, the projectile was sent 
nearly through a target composed as follows : Three plates, each 10 feet 
wide, 8 feet high, and 6 J inches thick; between the plates were 5 inches 
of teak backing, making the total thickness of 19 J inches of iron and 10 
inches of teak, or, in all, a target of 29 J inches. The shot, which had a 
striking velocity of 1,421 feet per second, punched a clean hole 13 
inches by 12J inches in the two front plates, and penetrated into the 
rear plate, where it broke up. The charge was 130 pounds of 1.5-inch 
pebble-powder, and the projectile weighed 812 pounds. The target was 
an exact sample of the armor of some of the English coast forts; there- 
fore, as a prelude to experiments on a large scale, this experiment opens 
up the question of coast defense. 

The caliber of this gun is 12J inches. Since the firing above noted 
the powder-chamber has been increased to a diameter of 14 inches, and 
in March, 1877, the first trial against armor after chambering took place. 
It was calculated that after chambering the quantity of powder which 
could be burnt and the consequent velocity and power of the shot would 
be considerably increased. The powder-charge was enlarged to 200 

*The Times is in error; the correct figures are 76 tons; but this may be instructive, 
in view of our very limited naval appropriations, to the officers who have been raising 
objections to the use of compound engines in our Navy. 



6\ 
Zl 

h 

Ui 
CD 

tr 

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O 

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001 

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Front View. 




Side View. 




Pl, 



THE 39-TON GUN. 75 

pounds, other conditions being equal, except that for this trial the target 
was strengthened by the addition of another 6J-inch plate and 5 inches 
of teak bolted on to the front of the target, extending over the greater 
portion of it, making in all 26 inches of iron and 15 inches of teak. The 
drawing of the target, preceding this description, together with the data 
relating to the gun, has been taken from the Engineer. 

The structure is shown in front view, side view, and plan. The plates 
are bolted together in pairs by means of the Palliser bolts in the same 
manner as in the target for the 81-ton gun previously described. 

The shot struck a point 4 feet 11 inches from the ground and 2 feet 5J 
inches from the junction-line of the thinner and thicker portions of the 
target. The shot buried itself deep in the target, the base, after the re- 
moval of the copper gas-check, being found to be 8.2 inches from the 
front face. The base was split into quarters, speaking roughly (vide Fig. 
1). The face of the target was but slightly bulged. The rear of it was 
not so abruptly bulged as in the case of the target of the 81-ton gun, 
though it seems apparent that the general effect of the 38-ton-gun shot 
on its target very closely resembles that of the 81-ton gun on its target. 
It seems, judging from the work done by this shot compared with that 
of its predecessor, that the projectile penetrated to a less extent than the 
one in the last round before chambering. It penetrated only 21J inches of 
iron and 15 inches of teak, which is not considered a fair representative 
of the effect of the chambered gun at 70 yards range. The deficiency is 
represented to have been owing to a difficulty that occurred in the set- 
ting up of the 200-pound cartridge, which prevented its being rammed 
down, so that in j'act it had to be blown out and the gun recharged ; two 
cartridges, each containing 100 pounds, were then employed, and they 
occupied more room than was intended, extending beyond the chamber. 
This interfered with the action of the charge, which was burned under 
less favorable conditions than were designed. The actual initial velocity 
attained, however, was 1,540 feet per second, and the striking velocity 
at the target was 1,525 feet per second. This, with a shot of 800 pounds 
weight and gas-check of 12 pounds weight, it is calculated, would give a 
penetration of about 23 inches of iron, or an increase of about 2 inches 
on the uuchambered gun, results that are expected to be attained in 
future trials. 

THE ARMSTRONG 39-TON BREECH-LOADING GUN. 

This gun, the most powerful breech-loader manufactured in England, 
was tested at the Elswick works in March, 1877. It was described in 
the Engineer^ February 23, and the details of the trials were given by 
the same paper March 23. 

The dimensions of the gun are as follows : Caliber, 12 inches ; -length 
of gun, 282 inches ; length of bore, 2G4 inches, or 22 calibers ; weight of 
gun, 39 tons ; weight of projectile, 700 pounds; description of rifling, 
polygroove ; pitch of rifling, increasing from 1 turn in 100 to 1 turn in 
45 ; number of grooves, 45. 

Theanangementof the breech-closing mechanism follows the pattern 
adopted in the French marine as far as the form of the breech-screw and 
the mode of securing, releasing, and withdrawing it are concerned ; but 
differs materially in the arrangements for closing the end of the bore 
against the passage of gas. The gas-check is a steel cup attached to 
and supported by the end of the breech-screw. The supporting surface 
is slightly curved, and when the body of the cup is acted upon inter- 
nally, by pressure of the gas, the rim expands, and, fitting tightly upon 



76 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



a copper ring rolled into a groove in the cup chamber, forms a perfect 
joint against any escape of gas. When the pressure of the gas is with- 
drawn, the gas-check cup frees itself by its own elasticity, and the 
breech-screw is withdrawn with ease. This arrangement has been sub- 
jected to the tests of practical working by the Italian Government, who, 
having fired over 500 rounds from a 12-centimeter gun of this descrip- 
tion, manufactured for them by Sir W. G. Armstrong & Co., subse- 
quently ordered a considerable number of guns of the same caliber. 
The projectiles used were fitted with a copper ring at the rear, which, 
being expanded into the rifling by the gas-pressure, gave the necessary 
rotation, and at the same time perfectly closed the bore against the pas- 
sage of gas. A slightly projecting band at the front end of the projectile, 
carefully turned to fit easily into the bore, supported the projectile at 
that end. This gun is best dealt with by comparing its trials with the 
Woolwich 38-ton muzzle-loader just mentioned. The results are tabu- 
lated as follows : 



Armstrong breech-loader. 



Woolwich muzzle-loader. 



Weight, in tons 

Caliber, in inches 

Weight of charge, in pounds 

Weight of projectile, in pounds 

Velocity at muzzle, in feet per second 
AVork stored up, in foot- tons 



39 


38 


12 


12* 


180 (pebble-powder). 


133 


700 


812 


1,615 


1,450 


12, 656, or 336 per inch of 


11, 838, or 301 p*r inch oi 


circumference. 


circumference. 



:p^:r,t -v 



BROADSIDE ARMORS SHIPS; THE AUDACIOUS CLASS; THE 

ALEXANDRA. 



77 



BROADSIDE ARMORED SHIPS. 



France is credited with having produced the first ship clad in armor. 
The Gloire * was commenced in 1858 ; two others of the same type im- 
mediately followed ; all of them woodeu ships plated with iron. The 
first great English armored ship, the ^Yarrior, was begun in 1859, and 
was followed by the Black Prince. These ships were ordinary single-screw 
war-steamers, with iron hulls 380 feet long, incompletely protected by 
plates 4£ inches thick. After the Black Prince followed the Minotaur 
and Northumberland, each 400 feet in length ; but it was soon found that 
these long ships were not well adapted for maneuvering in line of battle, 
and hence the later armored ships were made gradually broader in the 
beam and shorter in length. 

At the same time various improvements were introduced into the 
build, one of which was the change of the old oblique projecting bow 
into the reverse-curved, swan-breasted shape, which is substantially 
the same as that of the present running-down bow or ram. The 
armor was no longer restricted to the amidship portion of the vessels ; 
it was extended lore and aft, until they were completely covered above 
water, and for a short distance below it. The weight of the guns 
steadily increased, and with it the thickness of armor. Leaving out of 
account the converted ships,we come to the Bellerophon, put afloat in 1865. 
This ship was Mr. Eeed's first production. She was considered to be a 
long step in advance ; still the central battery delivered no end-on fire. 
That was sought to be obtained by the contrivance of a bow-battery on 
the main deck. Thus, though the Bellerophon was known as carrying 
ten 12-ton guns, the bow-fire was intrusted to two 6i-ton guns. The 
next first-class ship, the Hercules, gained an improved fire from the 
central battery (18-ton guns) by the expedient of recesses in the ship's 
sides forward and aft of the battery ; advantage was taken of the 
recesses to make four ports in the ends, or rather corners, of the battery, 

* The first account we have of an armored ship is in 1530. The largest ship then 
known, one of the fleet of the Knights of Saint John, was shtathed entirely with lead, 
and is said to have successfully resisted all the shot of that day. 

At the siege of Gibraltar, in 1782, the French and Spaniards employed floating bat- 
teries, made by covering the sides of the vessels with junk, rawhide, and timber, to the 
thickness of 7' feet, and bomb-proofing the decks. 

Iron armor was suggested in the United States in 1812. In March, 1814, a bomb- 
proof vessel was patented by Thomas Gregg, of Pennsylvania. 

In 1842 R. L. Stevens, of New York, commenced the construction of an iron-armored 
ship of war. 

The first practical use of wrought-iron plates as a defense for the sides of vessels was 
made by the French during the Crimean war. The vessels used were of light draught, 
exposed little surface above water, and were termed floating batteries. They rendered 
very efficient service, especially at the bombardment of Kinburn, in 1855, and their 
success doubtless led to the adoption, by the French Government, of armor-plating for 
si ips of war. 

The English built armored boats at about the same time, which were also used in 
the Crimean wai. 

79 



80 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

from which four of the guns were able to fire within a few degrees of 
the line of the keel. If required to fight upon the broadside, these guns, 
which were mounted on tnrn-tables, were revolved to other ports. The 
armament of this ship, when put on board in 1870, was considered very 
powerful. It consisted of fourteen Woolwich rifled guns, of which eight 
were of 10-inch, two of 9-inch, and four of 7-inch caliber. Her water- 
line is defended by a belt of 9-inch armor, believed at the time it was 
put on to be impenetrable at the thickest part to any of the guns 
at that time afloat in European waters. This armor-belt extends for 
upward of 3 feet above and 3J feet below the water-line, from stem to 
stern of the ship. This defensive strength is, however, confined to the 
belt. The battery from which the largest guns are worked is only pro- 
tected with 6 inches thickness of armor, and experiment has shown that 
armor of that thickness with the ordinary backing, can be penetrated 
at a distance of 1,000 yards and at an inclination of impact of 30° by 
the 9-inch rifled gun, and at close quarters by the 7-inch rifled gun, such 
as is carried by many armored ships.* But the Hercules has other ex- 
cellencies ; she is, for an armored ship, a fair sailer, though represented 
to be awkward in tacking or wearing. She had a speed under steam on 
the measured mile of 14 knots, and can probably make 12 knots steadily 
for a few hours at sea. She is said to be a very steady ship, and can, 
therefore, use her offensive powers under conditions of sea in which a 
less steady ship would be almost hors de combat. 

In the Sultan, built subsequently, of the same general dimensions and 
much resembling the Hercules, a step in advance was made by adding 
an upper-deck battery. This ship carries eight 18-ton guns on the lower 
gun-deck, two of less weight in the upper-deck casemate, and two on 
this same deck forward, but they do not command an all-round fire. In 
most essential points the ships are the same, though the Sultan is re- 
ported to have the defect of excessive top weight, to counterbalance 
which, considerable extra ballast has been put into her. Both vessels 
are built with bows having projecting rams, and they are counted with 
the formidable sea going fighting-ships. 

* The Hercules is much more efficiently protected than the text above indicates. In 
evidence of this we may quote the following passage from Our Iron-Clad Ships, written 
in 1869 by Mr. Reed, the designer of* the Hercules: "The thickness of armor carried 
has, however, for the present, reached its maximum for sea-going broadside-ships in 
the Hercules, which has 9-inch armor at the water-line, 8-inch on the most important 
parts of the broadside, and 6-inch on the remainder. Outside the l^-inch skin-plating 
of this vessel, teak backing 12 and 10 inches thick is fitted together with longitudinal 
girders of the usual character. This does not, however, constitute the whole of her 
protection, for below the lower deck down to the lower edge of the armor, the spaces 
known as the ' wing-passages' are filled in solid with additional teak backing, and in- 
side this there is an iron skin £ inch thick, supported by a set of vertical frames 7 
inches deep. The total protection, therefore, of the most vital part of the ship, in the 
region of the water-line, consists of the following thicknesses of iron and wood : Out- 
side armor, 9 inches; then 10-inch teak backing, with longitudinal girders at intervals 
of about 2 feet, worked upon 1^-inch skin-plating, supported by 10-inch vertical frames 
spaced 2 feet apart; the spaces between these frames are filled in solid with teak, and 
inside the frames there is a further thickness of about 19 to 20 inches of teak, the whole 
being bounded on the inside by f-inch iron plating, stiffened with 7-inch frames. The 
total thickness of iron (neglecting the girders and frames) is, then, 11£ inches, and of 
this 9 inches are in one thickness ; the teak backing has a total thickness of about 40 
inches. The trial at Shoeburyness of a target constructed to represent this part of the 
ship's side proved that it was virtually impenetrable to the 600-poundor gun ; and per- 
haps no better idea of the increase of the resisting power of the sides of our irou-clads 
can be obtained than that derived from a comparison of the 68-pounder gun which the 
IVorrior's side was capable of resisting with the 600-pouuder tried against the Hercules's 
target." — An English Naval Architect. 



THE AUDACIOUS CLASS. 81 



THE AUDACIOUS CLASS. 

The loss of the Vanguard, by sinking, off the coast of Ireland, in Sep- 
tember, 1875, from the effects of an accidental blow of the ram of a 
sister vessel — the Iron Duke — drew public attention for a time to the easy 
manner in which one of these powerful and costly ships could be dis- 
posed of, as well as to this particular class of vessels. In order that 
the department may be correctly informed on the subject, I have sub- 
mitted, independently of this report, a complete set of drawings show- 
ing the construction of the vessel, the entire internal arrangements, and 
the point penetrated by the ram of the Iron Duke. 

The class consisted of six broadside-vessels of similar design, viz, the 
Audacious, Iron Duke, Vanguard, Invincible, Triumph, and Siciftsure. 
The loss of the Vanguard leaves five. They were all built for sea-going 
cruising-ships, but the Triumph and Swiftsure only were sheathed in 
wood and coppered. A brief outline of their history may serve to show 
how designs for ships of war have sometimes been decided on by the 
admiralty. 

It was in the year 1867, in the midst of the controversy between the 
advocates of broadside and turret systems, that the board of admiralty 
resolved to invite the principal private ship-builders of the kingdom to 
compete in designs for either a turret or a broadside ship, at the option 
of the designer. Certain conditions were imposed in either case : the 
displacement was fixed, the draught of water was to be 22J feet, and the 
speed 13J knots. 

The armor-plating was to be at least 8 inches in thickness at the 
water-line, and 6 inches in other parts, except at the bow and stern, and 
it was essential that an all-round fire should be practical, or at least 
that some one gun behind armor-plates should command every poiut of 
the horizon. 

A prize was to be awarded to the successful competitor. Seven ship- 
building firms responded to the invitation, and sent in designs of vari- 
ous degrees of merit. The London Engineering Company proposed to 
build a broadside-ship of 3,800 tons ; the Mill wall Company, a compound 
of broadside and turret of nearly the same tonnage ; Messrs. Palmer 
& Co., a broadside-ship with a movable upper-deck battery ; and the 
Thames Company, a broadside-ship; while the firms of Messrs. Napier 
& Son, Messrs. Samuda, and Messrs. Laird each designed a turret-ship, 
fulfilling the proposed conditions. 

To the surprise of the competitors, all the designs were referred to 
Mr. Keed, then chief constructor of the navy, and he, though selecting 
the designs of Messrs. Laird as the best offered, referred to a turret-ship 
of his own, of the same dimensions, previously submitted, and the con- 
troller of the navy in reporting on the designs, which was the entire 
subject-matter referred to him, decided in favor of Mr. Reed's ship over 
all the private designs, and that the admiralty designs of the Audacious 
class of broadside-ships was superior to either.* 

* The author states that the competitors were surprised to rind that their designs 
were referred to the chief constructor of the navy for report, but it would, we think, 
have surprised them much more to find their designs referred to any one else, and the 
author omits to suggest what other or better authority existed for framing a report 
upon such designs. We doubt if the competitors really felt any surprise at all in the 
matter, for they must have known that the admiralty invariably referred competitive 
designs to their responsible professional officers for report. We have never heard the 
report which the chief constructor made in this case called in question either as re- 
gards its scientific accuracy or its fairness. It is, no doubt, always to be regretted 

Gk 



82 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

Ttiis view was adopted, and the result of all this competition among 
the naval architects of Great Britain was that six of the Audacious 
class were ordered to be built, four of them being given out to be built 
in the yards of the disappointed ship-builders. These ships have all 
been thoroughly tested at sea, and the results have not been entirely 
satisfactory. It is reported, in the first place, that the calculations were 
so defective that the ships have turned out lighter than was intended, 
and it has been necessary to fill in the bottoms with concrete and bal- 
last to give moderate stability, and that it became necessary to alter the 
rig and largely reduce the masts and sails. The Audacious, when broad- 
side on, presents an area of 6,670 square feet, and of these only 3,207 
square feet, or less than one-half, are plated. Amidships for 100 feet by 

3 feet, at the water line, the armor is 8 inches in thickness, tapering to 
4J inches at the bow and stern, and at the other portions the armor is 6 
inches thick, except that the ends of the main-deck battery have only 

4 and 5-inch armor, while the ends of the upper-deck battery are un- 
protected against a raking fire, and more than half the ship's side is in 
the same unprotected state. 

It seems, however, that some officers entertain high opinions of the 
sea-going qualities of this class of ship, as will be seen from the follow- 
ing. The Audacious is now the flag-ship of the China station. Admiral 
Ryder, in command, writes to the controller of the navy of this ship as 
follows : " Whatever objections may have been raised to ships of the 
Audacious class, the longer experience I have of them the more I am 
struck with their wonderful steadiness. I have just lately made a pas- 
sage running before a heavy sea and strong wind, all my stern ports 
barred in, and to our great surprise the ship did not roll more than 2° 
to 1° each way. I half made up my mind to broach her to, to see what 
she would do in such a sea, but the helmsman did it for me. In giving 
the ship a yaw he brought her to the wind, and positively to our sur- 
prise she declined to take any notice of the sea at all. An iron-clad 
flag-ship of a first-class naval power accompanied me. We were both 
proceeding before the same sea, my flag-ship rolling 2° to 1°, the flag- 
ship of the other power rolling 20°." 

After the above brief outline of vessels of former types, we now come 
to the more recent and important designs of broadside armored ships, 
taking up first — 

when a competition ends without result, and especially so when the judges of the com- 
petitive designs are themselves designers, and have their designs adopted. But we 
venture to think that; a competition for the design of a war-ship can very seldom ter- 
minate otherwise in this country, in which the admiralty staff of naval architects en- 
joy far better opportunities than private firms of knowing the requirements and the 
working of the naval service, and are in continual intercourse with the lords of the 
admiralty, who are the real judges in all such cases, and who are bound to build only 
such ships as they approve of. In the case of the Indian troop-ships a similar result of 
competition to the above ensued, in spite, as we happen to know, of the chief con- 
structor's (Mr. Reed's) urgent wish to have a design of Mr. Laird's adopted. A design 
previously prepared by Mr. Reed was much preferred by the admiralty, and was or- 
dered accordingly. — An English Naval Architect. 

"An English Naval Architect" shows himself needlessly apprehensive for Mr. Reed's 
ability and honesty, neither of which I have called in question ; nor is it my province 
to "suggest what other or better authority existed." The poiut lies in the question- 
able equity of the system which permitted one competitor to decide upon all the com- 
petitors' designs, and to pass judgment upon his own. That he preferred the designs 
of another, speaks well for Mr. Reed's sense of equity and his good taste; that he 
called attention to his own, and so influenced their adoption, speaks ill for the sys- 
tem.— J. W. K. 



THE ALEXANDRA. 83 



THE ALE^AKDKA. 

The broadside system has proved tenacious of life. For masted ves- 
sels it fairly holds its own against the turrets. The hitherto unknown 
perfection to which it has been brought in the Alexandra appears likely 
to give it a new lease of life, especially in combination with all-round 
fire from fixed turrets on the upper deck, as will be applied in the Te- 
meraire. This vessel, the largest masted iron-clad heretofore designed, 
and now well advanced toward completion at the Chatham clock-yard, 
is a central-battery ship in the best sense — that is, she needs no bow or 
stern batteries to give her end-on fire. For the first time a broadside 
armored masted ship is built with satisfactory all-round tire, for, out of 
twelve guns, four of them, including the heaviest, can fire straight ahead 
and two straight astern. On each broadside from four to six guns can 
be fought, according to the bearing of the enemy. In other words, she 
has almost as perfect an all-round fire as is attainable in a broadside 
armored vessel, and this forms her chief claim to consideration. So far 
as the fighting portion of the vessel is concerned, she is a two-decker, 
unlike the six armored vessels of the Audacious class referred to above, 
and she may be considered a perfect example of a war-ship shadowed 
forth in those vessels. The battery consists of two Woolwich rifled 
muzzle-loading guns of 25 tons each, and ten of the same kind but of 
18 tons each, the former being a size not previously attempted to be 
carried on a broadside-ship. In Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawing, 
the numbers denote the weight of the guns in tons. It will be observed 
that the only two 25-ton guns she possesses are located in the upper bat- 
tery forward. These can be trained from 2° or 3° across the fore-and-aft 
line forward, to several degrees abaft the beam, as shown at A. B B are 18- 
ton guns with much the same training aft that the others possess forward. 
These lour guns comprise the armament of the upper battery. To local- 
ize the effects of shells exploding between decks, the main-deck battery 
is divided into two by an armored bulkhead which forms a contin- 
uation downward of the forward bulkhead of the upper battery. In 
the portion which lies under and corresponds with the upper battery 
are six 18-ton guus, three on each side, for broadside-fire only. These 
are shown at D D in Fig. 2. In the forward and detached portion 
uf the main battery are two other 18-ton guns for end on fire, which 
they attain by means analogous to those employed to give similar 
fire to the upper-battery guns. Forward of the main-deck battery 
the whole side of the ship is set back from the level of the main deck 
(at the top of the armor-belt) upward. In other words, the ship for- 
ward of the battery is narrower above the main deck than below it; the 
two guns, C as well as A, can therefore fire right ahead past the sides. 
Their arc of training is about the same as that of A, or nearly 100°. 
The sills of the main-deck ports are 9 feet, and those of the upper-deck 
ports more than 17 feet, above the water. The w 7 ater-line is protected 
by a belt having a maximum thickness of 12 inches, and it will be seen 
by Fig. 1 that the armor forward is carried down over the ram, both to 
strengthen the latter and to guard the vital parts of the ship from injury 
by a raking fire from ahead, at times when waves or pitching action 
might expose the bow. The machinery, magazines, &c, are similarly 
protected against a raking fire from aft by an armor bulkhead, 5 inches 
thick, shown at A, Figs. 1 and 2. The batteries are protected by armor 
only 8 inches thick below and 6 inches above, which is a deficiency of 



84 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

protection against guns now in common use on board armed vessels in 
European navies. 

The total weight of armor and backing is 2,350 tons. 

The principal dimensions and other data of the vessel are: 

Length between perpendiculars :. - : 325 feet. 

Breadth, extreme 63 feet 8 inches. 

Depth of hold 18 feet 7J inches. 

Tonnage 6, 050. 

Displacement 9, 492. 

Draught forward 26 feet. 

Draaght aft 26 feet 6 inches. 

The system of framing adopted in former armored vessels has been 
preserved in its main features. The great weightof armor and machinery, 
together with the immense power to be developed, necessitates arrange- 
ments which shall give extraordinary strength to the hull. The chief 
characteristics of the system, as in other vessels, consists in the adoption 
of an inner bottom and short angle-irons connected by bracket-plates. 
Increased strength longitudinally is gained by the use of much deeper 
longitudinal frames than employed in many former vessels; an advan- 
tage in this feature is that the space between the two bottoms (4 
feet amidships) is roomy and easy of access for cleaning and painting, 
operations essential to the preservation of an iron structure. Facil- 
ities are also afforded by these arrangements for letting in water be- 
tween the bottoms to regulate the trim of the vessel. Provision is 
made to pump out any compartment required, the space being in several 
divisions. In addition to the strength and safety proceeding from 
these numerous water-tight cells between the two bottoms, great in- 
creased strength is gained by the employment of a heavy longitudinal 
bulkhead through the center of the ship, commencing at 40 feet aft of 
the stem and extending to within 40 feet of the stern. Besides the wing- 
passages, bulkheads on either side form longitudinal divisions of the 
hold, while advantage is taken of transverse bulkheads to form subdi- 
visions for the magaziues, shell-rooms, chain-lockers, shaft-passages, and 
passages between the engines and boilers. By the bulkheads the twelve 
boilers are subdivided into four separate sets of three each, and the 
engines of the twin screws into two sets. In other words, the center 
longitudinal bulkhead divides the engines of each screw; it also divides 
the boilers, six being on either side of if, besides which there is a trans- 
verse bulkhead aft of the boilers, one immediately forward of them, and 
one in the center of the six. These several water-tight bulkheads are 
so arranged that any one or more sets of boilers can be worked inde- 
pendently of the others. All communication can also be shut off from 
either set of engines, so that if one side of the ship be damaged the 
engines on the opposite side can be worked independently. In the 
event of damage to the bottom, or accident by fire or other causes, any 
one of the compartments can be shut off or flooded. All the bulkheads 
are butted at the joints, beautifully fitted, and strongly secured as one 
rigid bridge. The water-tight doors on the lowermost deck are fitted 
with hinges having loose pins, and are secured when shut by levers 
placed at short intervals all around the edges of the doors, which may 
be worked from either side of the bulkhead. The doors in the hold are 
made to slide up and down, being raised or lowered by screws worked 
from the main deck. Flooding arrangements are fitted to the maga- 
zines, shell-rooms, and torpedo-rooms, proper stop-cocks with locks be- 



THE ALEXANDRA. 85 

ing fitted in each case to prevent the possibility of water being let in by 
mistake. Excellent facilities for pumping have been applied, to be 
worked by steam, also by hand, from the decks. Drain-pipes" are placed 
between the two bottoms, giving control over the water in every com- 
partment, so as to fill or empty them • the former when they are used 
for carrying water-ballast, the latter when they are pumped out in case 
of accident. 

The frame spaces and the hollow masts constitute excellent venti- 
lating tubes, the masts especially being good uptakes. To prevent the 
liability of the inhabited decks becoming contaminated, great attention 
has been given to the necessity of conveying the foul air away to the 
upper deck by distinct pipes from the hold and from the berth-decks. 
This point has not, however, been carried to the extent it deserves. 
The last consideration of atmospheric influence consists in providing 
means for closing all ventilators in event of fire. This seems the more 
important in the case of hollow masts used as ventilating-tubes, for if a 
fire should occur in the hold, the masts at once become tall chimneys 
creating enormous draughts to fan the flames. One case of this kind is 
known to have occurred in the mercantile vessel River Boyne within a 
year or two, and it is probable other unrecorded cases have happened. 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The Alexandra is the first cruising armored broadside-ship of the 
royal navy engined on the compound system. The machinery was 
designed and constructed by Messrs. Humphrys & Tennant, at their 
works, Deptford on-the-Thames. 

As in all late armored ships of the royal navy, twin screws are applied 
to the Alexandra. Each screw is driven by an independent set of 
engines with three vertical inverted cylinders of the collective power of 
4,000 horses, giving an aggregate indicated horse-power of 8,000 for both 
sets of engines. The diameter of the high-pressure cylinder is 70 inches, 
and the diameter of the low-pressure cylinders each 90 inches. The 
high-pressure cylinder is in the center ; its faces are made separately, 
of hard, close-grained iron, 2 inches thick, and secured to the' cylinder 
with brass countersunk screws. The linings or workiug-barrels of all 
the cylinders are made separately, and bolted to the cylinders at one 
end, and fitted with an expansion-joint at the other, with a width of 
steam-space of 1 inch between. The intermediate spaces between the 
high and low pressure cylinders are also steam-jacketed. The slide- 
valves are double ported and fitted with packing-rings on the back, to 
relieve them of part of the steam-pressure. Chocks are fitted to the 
cylinders to stay them in the event of the ship being used for ramming. 
The crank-shafts are made in three pieces, which are interchangeable. 
Tbe diameter of the bearings of the crank-piqs is 17J inches, and their 
lengths equal to the diameters. Tbe crank-shaft brasses are lined with 
white-metal, and so fitted that they can be removed without necessitat- 
ing the removal of the shaft, and each top brass and cap has a hole 
large enough to admit a man's hand for the purpose of ascertaining its 
temperature. The diameter of the propeller-shafting is 16 inches, ex- 
cept the §tern-shaft through the tube, which is 18 inches exclusive of 
the brass casing. The tubes through the stern are of one lengtb, and of 
gun-metal, and the driving-shafts within them are also cased with gun- 
metal cast on. The length of the lignum-vita3 bearings in the tubes 
are at the after end 4 feet G inches, at the forward end 2 feet 3 inches. 

The engines are raised considerably above the inner bottom of the 



86 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF 

ship, with the view to prevent damage to them in case of accident to 
the ship's bottom. The propeller-shafts are in consequence inclined 
toward the stern. The surface-condensers, one to each set of engines, 
are so fitted as to be worked as common jet-condensers if necessary. 
They contain an aggregate of 16,500 square feet of cooling surface. 
The tubes are of solid drawn brass, f inch in diameter, and fitted to be 
packed at each end in the usual manner practiced at present in Great 
Britain. The water is supplied by means of centrifugal pumps, worked 
by independent engines. The air-pumps, two to each low-pressure cyl- 
inder, are worked directly from the main pistons. 

Each set of engines is fitted with two feed-pumps and corresponding 
bilge-pumps ; and an auxiliary engine is fitted to each boiler-compart- 
ment, capable of working another feed-pump having a set of feed-pipes, 
feed-cocks, and overflow-valves, separate and distinct from the pipes 
and apparatus belonging to the main feed pumps. Two additional aux- 
iliary engines (one to each engine-room) are fitted as fire engines. A 
double hand-pump to each set of engines is also provided ; also a hand- 
pump to each screw-funnel, with all necessary attachments, for the pur- 
pose of drawing water from the lowest point in the ship. The screw- 
propellers are of the Man gin type, 21 feet in diameter, and work out- 
ward. 

The boilers are twelve in number, divided by bulkheads into four 
several sets. They are placed in the ship back to back against the 
longitudinal bulkhead. The fronts face the sides of the ship ; conse- 
quently they are fired from fire-rooms convenient to the coal-bunkers. 
An additional advantage in this arrangement consists in keeping the 
sides of the ship clear of boilers, and accessible in the event of torpe- 
does or rams piercing holes through the sides of the ship The four 
sets of boilers are arranged to be used separately, in sets or singly. Each 
boiler contains three furnaces 40 inches in diameter and 6 feet 6 inches 
long. The total heating surface is 21,900 square feet, and the pressure 
of steam to the square inch will be 60 pounds. The smoke and gases 
are all carried into one chimney. Each boiler is fitted with an internal 
steam-pipe to obviate the effects of priming. This pipe is of brass, 
| inch thick ; it extends the whole length of the boiler, and has narrow 
transverse slits through which the steam must pass. " So as to prevent 
any catastrophe through the safety-valves getting out of order, each 
boiler, in addition to the ordinary safety-valve box, containing two 
spring safety-valves, has a supplementary test- valve loaded with a lever 
and weight and placed on the front of the boilers. There are also two 
pressure-gauges to each boiler, one being intended to act as a check to 
the other, the working gauge being graduated to 80 pounds and the 
other to 120 pounds. The stop-valves and safety-valves are all worked 
from the stoke-hole floors, and the main engine stop-valves are so ar- 
ranged that they can be* either worked from the engine-room or from 
the main deck. The whole of the boiler mountings, including the safety- 
valves and their boxes, are made of gun-metal." 

Two blocks of zinc, measuring 12 by 6 by 2 inches, are suspended in 
each boiler with the view of preventing corrosion. The furnaces are 
made in short lengths, riveted together with flanges, having short dis- 
tance-pieces between them. The furnaces, the tube plates, and fire-boxes 
are of Lowmoor iron, all other parts of B B Staffordshire iron. The thick- 
ness of the plates is as follows : tube plates f inch ; shells J inch ; back 
| inch ) front, above and below the tube-plates, f inch; all other parts 
| inch. The shells of the boilers are double-riveted, and longitudinal 
seams have butt-plates inside and outside. The grate-bars are of wrought- 



THE ALEXANDRA, 87 

iron, 3£ inches deep by 1J inches wide, and made in three lengths. The 
fire-rooms are ventilated by means of circular fans, located well up, and 
driven by small engines. 

The complement of engineer officers is one chief and ten assistants, 
and the complement of stokers, eighty. In addition to the care and 
management of the enormous machinery to propel the ship, the engineer 
officers have charge of the machinery for steering the ship, for hoisting 
the anchors, for ventilation, and all the water-tight doors, valves, and 
cocks in the ship. There are also two pairs of auxiliary engines, imme- 
diately aft of the main engines, for revolving the screws when discon- 
nected from the main engine with the ship under sail. These engines 
work the screws through the intervention of brass bevel-wheels, working 
into wood cog-wheels on the couplings of the disconnected shafts. The 
ship has three masts, is bark-rigged, and is designed as a cruiser. Ven- 
tilators are abundantly provided, carrying fresh air throughout the ship; 
water-pipes are also extended along the decks, with attachments to the 
steam and hand fire-engines. The estimated speed of the ship is 14 
knots as the maximum, and it is believed that 12J knots under sail may 
be attained under favorable circumstances. 

The mind of an officer who has passed his sea-life on board the old 
type of wooden ships of war, and become accustomed to their low, dark 
u betweendecks," small and badly-arranged air-ports, wretched venti- 
lation, and horrid bilge- wafer odor, together with the familiar cast-iron 
smooth-bore guns, mounted on wooden carriages, must be impressed to 
a degree of astonishment, when, for the first time, he enters the batteries 
of the Alexandra, and sees the great rifled guns mounted on Scott's 
system of wrought-iron carriage ; the unusual height between decks, 10 
feet 4 inches in the upper battery, and 9 feet 6 inches in the lower. 
But lofty and spacious as these battery-decks are, his surprise would be 
still greater upon entering the berth or living deck. Here will be seen 
the extraordinary height between the berth-deck planks and the gun- 
deck beams of 11 feet 6 inches, equal to the lofty ceiling of a modern 
dwelling-house. He would also be impressed with the large air-ports ; 
pleasant, light, commodious state-rooms for the officers; and a wardroom 
centrally located, with a passage between it and the state-rooms on either 
side ; an arrangement for convenience and comfort unknown to elderly 
officers. The admiral's cabin is of small dimensions and aft of the ward- 
room, and the captain is quartered on the upper deck, directly over the 
admiral. 

At the official trial on the measured mile, a speed at the rate of 15J 
knots per hour was attained, with satisfactory working of the machinery. 
The revolutions made by the screws on this trial were 67 per minute, 
and 8,600 indicated horse-power was developed, which was 600 horse- 
power above the contract. During the six-hour trial, 8,300 indicated 
horse-power was obtained " without difficulty, under somewhat unfavor- 
able circumstances." 



:pa.:r,t yi 



THE TEMERAIRE, AND SYSTEM OF WORKING THE BARBETTE- 
GUNS; THE SHANNON. 



89 



THE TEMERAIRE 



The Temeraire, building at the Chatham dock-yard, is designed for a 
sea-going ship. Her most important feature — the feature, in fact, which 
distinguishes her fundamentally from all other armored ships of the 
British navy — is that she carries the upper-deck armament in two fixed 
open-topped turrets instead of a central battery. At each end of the 
upper deck is a pear-shaped tower or battery, standing about 6 feet 
above the deck, and measuring about 33 feet on its longest axis by 21 
feet 6 inches across. This contains a turn-table, on which is mounted 
a 25-ton gun, worked by hydraulic machinery, on Mr. Rendel's disap- 
pearing principle : that is, the gun is raised to be fired over the edge of 
the tower, and immediately after firing sinks under cover to be reloaded. 
As the sides of the vessel from the level of the upper deck to that of 
the main deck are, of course, not armored at the extremities, connection 
is maintained between the tower and the lower part of the ship by au 
armored truuk or tube, so placed that on the gun being revolved after 
firing, into the fore-and-aft line, with its muzzle toward the middle of 
the ship, the muzzle comes just over the opening, ready for the* fresh 
charge from below. It must, inconveniently, always be brought to one 
position for loading. The French engineers have, from the first intro- 
duction of armored ships, entertained a noted antipathy to revolving 
turrets. Their objections were to protecting the guns by a weight equal 
to that of those guns and their ammunition ; to a system which pre- 
vented an enemy from being clearly seen, aud to the impossibility of 
getting an all-round fire with two turrets on a line 5 while the advan- 
tages they claimed for the barbette system were that an enemy could be 
clearly seen, and that the freedom and morale of the gunners were bet- 
ter assured in a barbette than in a turret battery. 

The French naturally defend their own system against the opinions 
of all other European naval authorities. In the usual sense of words, 
the guns in the open battery of the Temeraire are not barbette-guns at all. 
They are fired en barbette, just as guns in Moncrieif gun-pits are, but 
they are not en barbette at any other time, which is an important distinc- 
tion. They and their crews are not exposed to one-half of the risks 
which attend guns mounted permanently above the parapet of the bat- 
tery, as is the case in all the French open top turrets. The upper-deck 
guns of the Temeraire have much more in common with the MoncrierY 
system of mounting, or even with guns in ordinary turrets, than with 
the old and objectionable system of barbette firing. But it remains to 
be seen whether this disappearing system of Renders, to be tested in 
the Temeraire, will be successful. 

The foremost turret is protected with 10-inch armor, the after one with 
8 inch. The guns have a clear sweep around the respective ends of the 
ship to some distance abaft or forward of the beam, as the case may be. 
In order not to obstruct the fire the bulwarks are kept low, about 4 feet 
above the deck, an arrangement hardly to be avoided, but likely to be 
objected to by sailors. The high bulwarks of ordinary men-of-war are 
liked by the men for the protection they give against wind and wet; on 

91 



92 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAP, ETC. 

the other hand the TSmeraire gains an upper deck, with no break in it 
except the poop and forecastle (and' the fixed turrets, which are partly 
inclosed in them). All recent cruising ironclads had an upper deck 
here, interfering more or less with the working of ropes ; this is got rid 
of in the Temeraire. 

Like all belted ships, the Temeraire has weak places at her water- 
line ; but amidships, over the most vital parts, she has 11-inch armor 
(against 12-inch in the Alexandra), reduced slightly above and below; 
it is also tapered toward the bow and stern. 

At the bow, to guard against exposure to raking fire in pitching, the 
armor is carried down over the point of the ram, and similar protection 
is gained for the magazines, &c, against raking fire from aft, by an ar- 
mored bulkhead across the hold (shown in the sketches) ; this is plated 
with 5-inch armor. The iron deck at the level of the top of the belt out- 
side the main-deck battery is 1J inches thick. The hull, which has the 
usual double bottom, and is divided into very numerous water-tight 
compartments, is built on the well-known bracket-frame system, and it 
is sheathed externally with wood covered with zinc. In like manner 
with other armored ships a ram is fitted which, in this case, projects 8 
feet beyond the bow. The system of framing for the hull is quite 
similar to that of the ship just described. The vertical keel-plate is of 
steel 45 inches deep by f inch thick ; it is secured to the flat keel-plates 
by angle irons 5 by 5 inches by f inch. The inner and outer keel plates 
are respectively f inch and 1 inch in thickness. The longitudinals, of 
which there are six, have dimensions varying from 41 inches by £ inch 
to 31£ inches by T 7 g inch. The transverse frames behind the armor 
are 10 inches by 3| inches by 3J inches by T 7 g inch thick, and are spaced 
2 feet apart; those in the double bottom are 4 feet apart, while the 
water-tight frames are separated by a space of 20 feet. The frames 
above the armor-belt forward and aft of the battery are 4 feet from cen- 
ter to center, and of angle-irons 7 inches by 3 inches by T 7 F inch ; for- 
ward of the battery these frames are connected to the deck-plating by 
brackets § inch thick and angle-irons 4 inches by 3 inches by T 7 g inch. 
Behind the armor, and secured to the skin-plates, longitudinal girders 
of angle-iron 10 inches by 3£ inches by T 7 -g- inch are worked. 

The athwartship water-tight bulkheads are seven in number. They 
extend from the inner bottom to the main deck, the thickness being y 7 ^ 
inch below the berth-deck and f inch above it ; they are secured aud 
stiffened by angle-irons, and each one is fitted with a water-tight door, 
so arranged as to be worked from the main deck. 

The deck-beams are made with solid welded knees ; those of the lower 
deck are bulb T-irons, 9 inches deep, with 3J-inch top -flanges ; those of 
the main deck under the battery are formed of plates 16 inches deep by 
J inch thick, stiffened on the upper edge by angle-irons 3 inches by 3 
inches, and on the lower edge 2J inches by 2J inches. Those of the 
same deck, fore and aft of the battery, are of the same kind, but 11 
inches deep, and those of the upper deck are of T-iron, 10 inches deep, 
with a G-inch flange. They are rounded 7 inches in their length and 
spaced 4 feet apart. The outside plating of the hull varies in thickness 
according to the strength and stiffness required, being 1 inch, J iuch, J 
inch, }i inch, f inch, and J inch. All seams are double-riveted except 
the after hood ends, which are treble-riveted. 

A bilge-keel, 112 feet long by 2 feet deep, outside of the wood sheath- 
ing, is fitted to each side of the hull ; they are made of zinc plates i inch 
thick, wedge-shaped and stiffened by wood-filling between the two plates 
of each bilge-keel. 



THE TEMERAIRE. 93 

The weight of the armor and backing is about 2,300 tons, or nearly 
the same as in the Alexandra; the bunkers contain only 600 tons of 
coal; and the guns, ordnance stores, engines, boilers, and all other 
equipments weigh about 2,200 tons. These weights, amounting in all 
to 5,100 tons, are carried by a hull weighing 3,300 tons. The spread of 
canvas is considerable, being 23,380 square feet, but it is carried brig- 
fashion, on two masts only, to avoid obstructing the end-on fire of the 
upper-deck guns. It is intended that the top-hamper may, if necessary, 
be disposed of overboard when going into action. 

The following are the principal dimensions and other data, with like 
information added for the Alexandra for the sake of comparison : 

Temeraire. Alexandra. 

Length between perpendiculars 285 feet. 325 feet. 

Breadth, extreme 62 feet. 63 feet 8 inches. 

Draught aft 27 feet. 26 feet 6 inches. 

Draught forward 26 feet 6 inches. 26 feet. 

Displacement 8, 412 tons. 9, 492 tons. 

Indicated horse-power (by contract) . . 7, 000 8, 000 

Speed (intended) 14 knots. 14 knots. 

Armor : 

Maximum thickness on belt 11 incbes. 12 inches. 

Thickness on batteries lO^inch, 8-inch. 8-inch, 6-iuch. 

Guns of 25 tons 4 2 

GunsoflStons 4 10 

Weight of broadside-fire 2, 600 pounds. 2, 600 pounds. 

Weight of bow-fire 1,800 pounds. 2, 000 pounds. 

Weight of stern-fire , 600 pounds. 800 pounds. 

Cost, estimated $1,817,640 $2,532,060 

ARMAMENT. 

The Temeraire, from the upper deck, fires right ahead one 25 ton gun ; 
right astern, the same ; and through a large arc on the beam, two. On 
the main deck, protecting also the smoke-pipe, is the Temeraire's double 
or divided battery, shown in plan in Fig. 2, and resembling, except in 
being shorter, the main-deck battery of the Alexandra. The forward 
part contains two 25-ton guns, whose arc of training extends from 
slightly abaft the beam on each side to slightly across the fore-and-aft 
line, so as to secure a converging fire at some distance ahead of the ves- 
sel, as already described in the case of the Alexandra. These guns, of 
course, fire from corner ports, and the sides of the ship above the main 
deck or top of the belt forward are set back several feet ; this is shown 
in Fig. 2. The after part of the battery contains four 18 ton guns, for 
broadside-fire only. On the whole the Temeraire fires three 25-ton guns 
right ahead ; on either bow, two 25-ton ; right aft, one 25-ton ; on either 
quarter, one 25 ton ; on either beam (if engaged on one side at a time), 
two 25-tou and two 18 ton, with a third 25-ton gun available through 
only half the usual arc. 

The guns of the Temeraire are better defended than those of any 
other broadside-ship, and this fact, coupled with a water-line defense 
nearly equal to that of the Alexandra, an armament which many will 
prefer to hers, and a much less size aud cost, should give her the char- 
acter of being the most successful masted ship, provided the system of 
working the barbette-guns prove successful. She is at least immeas- 
urably superior to everything, however large, which preceded the 
Alexandra. 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The steam machinery has been designed and constructed by Messrs. 
Hninphiys,Tenuant & Co., of Deptf'onl, aud the contract provides that 



94 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

the engines shall indicate 7,000 horse power. Though resembling in 
general appearance and construction the machinery which w T as supplied 
by the same eminent manufacturers to the Dreadnought and Alexandra, 
the engines differ from them in several important details, the principal 
variations being that, in consequence of want of room, the cylinders are 
limited to two. They are of the compound vertical inverted type. Each 
of the twin screws is operated by an independent pair of engines, which, 
with the boilers, are separated by a longitudinal bulkhead. The diame- 
ter of the high-pressure cylinders is 70 inches, of the low-pressure 114 
inches, the stroke 3 feet 10 inches, and maximum revolutions about 
70. The air-pumps are worked directly from the pistons. The crank- 
shafts are 17J inches in diameter, coupled in the center, and the two 
sections are interchangeable. The screw-propellers are of the Griffith 
new type, each having a diameter of 20 feet, a pitch of 23 feet 6 inches 
(variable from 19 to 24 feet), and an immersion of the upper edge of 4 
feet 10 inches at deep load draught. A novel feature in the design of 
the engines, introduced here for the first time, has been the employment 
of wrought iron, steel, and brass to a large extent in lieu of cast iron,, 
the cylinders, their valves and covers, being the only parts made of that 
material. Thus the whole of the framing is constructed of wrought 
iron, the bearings of the crank-shafts being also formed of heavy forg- 
ings of the same tough metal, and connected to box-girders of wrought- 
irou plates ; while for additional security and strength the girders are 
riveted to the ship's framing, and are thus made to form a part of the 
general structure of the hull ; the cylinders are also supported on wrought- 
iron box-girders placed vertically and strengthened by wrought-iron 
columns. The whole of the condensing apparatus, including the tube- 
cases, air-pumps, their connections, &c, are made of brass. The cases 
are made each in four pieces and bolted together; they contain 11,236 
solid drawn brass tubes 7 feet 7J inches in length, with an external 
diameter of ■§ inch • they are tinned on both sides, and each tube" is 
secured in its place by a stuffing-box tapped into the plate with a can- 
vas washer behind it. The total cooling surface is 14,000 square feet. 
The water is circulated through the condensers by means of centrifugal 
pumps, which are driven by independent engines. The valve-faces of 
the high-pressure cylinders are of phosphor-bronze, secured in place by 
composition screws. Altogether the whole structure presents an appear- 
ance of lightness and beauty, composing a splendid piece of workman- 
ship. 

Boilers.— The steam is furnished by twelve boilers, elliptical in shape, 
containing three furnaces in each. They are placed in the ship back to 
back, against the longitudinal bulkhead, with the fronts facing the sides 
of the vessel, and consequently fired with convenient access to the side 
coal-bunkers. They are divided by bulkheads into four several sets, in 
the same manner as those in the Alexandra, previously described. Any 
one set or any one boiler can be worked independently of the others. 
The whole of the boiler-mountings, including the stop and safety valves 
and their boxes, are made of composition. The working-pressure of 
steam is GO pounds per square inch, and the boilers have been tested up 
to 120 pounds. As in other recent twin-screw ships, the engine and 
boiler rooms are divided into two, longitudinally, to limit the entry of 
water and its inconsequences to the engine and boilers in case of injury 
from rams or torpedoes. 

Engines exclusive of the motive power. — Besides the main engines de- 
scribed, the Temeraire\s provided with thirty other steam eugines. These* 
include two pairs of small engines placed near each screw-shaft coupling 



THE TEMERAIRE. 



95 



for the purpose of turning the great engines, when they are not at work, 
so as to bring the pistons, steam-valves, or other parts to convenient 
points for examination and adjustment from time to time, as required; 
two starting-engines, for the purpose of starting or reversing the main 
engines ; four feed-engines, for supplying the boilers with water, or 
drawing it therefrom ; two circulating-engines, for forcing water through 
the condensers ; two bilge-pump engines ; four pumping-engines, to free 
the water-bottoms, or to be used in the event of fire or accident to the 
hull under water; four engines for hoisting ashes, coal, or provisions j 
four engines for working the ventilating-fans 5 one capstan or anchor- 
hoisting engine ; one engine for steering the ship ; two engines for work- 
ing the hydraulic gear of the guns; an engine to charge the torpedo 
air-reservoir, and an engine to work the electric machine which feeds 
the lights on the bridge. 

OFFICIAL TRIALS OF THE MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The measured-mile trial in Stokes Bay was made before all the weights 
were placed on board, the draught of the ship then being 25 feet 4 inches 
forward, and 26 feet 2 inches aft. 

Six runs were made over the mile, with and against the tide, with re- 
sults reported as follows: first, 13.846 knots; second, 15.319 knots; 
third, 13.636 kuots; fourth, 15.859 knots; fifth, 13.636 knots; and, sixth, 
15.721 knots. The mean of the means showed a speed of 14.65 knots, 
with an indicated horse-power of 7,697. The amount of coal consumed 
during the trial was 51 tons 2 quarters, being equal to 2J pounds per 
indicated horse-power per hour, a result comparatively low in consider- 
ation of the fact that the fires had to be pushed to the utmost, regard- 
less of economy. The six-hour trial for endurance was made on the 17th 
of September last, after all the weights were on board and the ship 
ready for sea; the draught of water at this time being, forward, 26 feet 
8 inches, and aft, 27 feet 4 inches, or about the same as the estimated 
draught of the ship. The sea was smooth, and the run was made near 
Cowes. The following table shows the results of each of the twelve 
half-hours during which observations were taken, as reported by the 
London Times: 



a 


Vacuum, 


in inches. 


Revolutions. 


30 










O 














fa 


t 




•6 










CS 




-2 













e8 P< 


3 


r= 




,a 







£h 


H 

a 
to 



P4 


(1 
a 


3 




49 


2*75 


28.75 


71 


70 


6, 462. 98 


57 


26.75 


28. 75 


74.4 


74 


7, 538. 94 


57 


2d. 5 


2-!. 5 


73.0 


73.9 


7,470.41 


57.5 


2d. 25 


28. 25 


74.7 


74.4 


7, 784. 19 


57 


28 


28 


74.3 


74. 5 


7, 562. 12 


59 


28 


28 


74.2 


74.2 


7, 796. 36 


56. 5 


28. 25 


28 


73.6 


74 


7, 447. 03 




28.5 


28 


74. 5 


74.5 


7,517. 14 


60 


28. 25 


28 


73. 6 


73.7 


7, 585. 61 


58.5 


28.25 


28 


74 


75 


7, 586. 19 


' 61 


28 


26 


73. 3 


74.8 


7, 723. 17 


59.5 


28 


28 


72.4 


72.7 


7, 644. 53 



The means were: Pressure of steam in boilers, 59 pounds. Vacuum hi condensers- 
starboard, 28.20 inches; port, 28 inches. Revolutions per minute — starboard, 73. GO ; 
port, 74.13. Pressure of steam on square inch of piston — starboard, 2G.G pounds high, 



26 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



and 11.7 pounds low; port, 26.1 pounds high, and 11.68 pounds low. Indicated horse- 
power — starboard, 3,801.09; port, 3,782.95. The total collective power developed by 
the engines during the six hours was thus 7,584.04 horses, or 584.04 beyond the con- 
tract. * * * 

Comparing the results with the measured-mile data, and taking four consecutive 
half-hours, counting from the third, as an equivalent for the mile-runs, we have 7,653 
horses as compared with the 7,696 horses on the Maplin Sands. * * * 

Subsequently the ship made a trial run at various speeds, under try- 
ing conditions of weather, between Spithead and Queenstown, and when 
in a fresh gale she is reported to have made the extraordinary speed of 
nearly 14 knots per hour, the wind doubtless being favorable. It is 
said that during the roughest weather she was remarkably steady, and 
that her barbette-guns might have been easily and effectively worked, 
and her after main-deck guns were available the whole time. 

For comparison of the motive machinery of the three recently-con- 
structed powerful armored ships, engined by Messrs. Humphrys & 
Tennant, the following table is given : 



Dreadnought. 



Alexandra. 



Tem6raire. 



Type of engines 

Cylinders : 

Number of 

Diameter 

Length of stroke . . . 
Diameter of crank-shaft 
Screws : 

Diameter 

Pitch 

„ Type 

Condensers : 

Number of 

Cooling surface 

.Type 

Boilers : 

Number of 

Total grate surface . 
Total heating sur- 
face. 
Six-hour trial : 

Pressure of steam.. 
Revolutions of en- 
gines. 
Indicated horse- 
power. 
Speed of ship 



Vertical, compound; 
twin screw ; three cyl- 
inders driving each 
screw. 

Six 

Two of 66 inches ; four of 
90 inches. 

4 feet 6 inches 

17£ inches 

20 feet 

23 feet 6 inches 

Four-bladed Griffith 

Two 

1 6,500 square feet 

Surface 

Twelve 

820 square feet 

22,025 square feet 

60 pounds 

67 

8,206 

14.52 knots per hour 



Vertical, compound; 
twin screw ; three cyl- 
inders driving each 
screw. 

Six 

Two of 70 inches ; four of 
90 inches. 

4feet 

17£ inches 

21 feet 

22 feet 3 inches 

Mangin 

Two 

16,500 square feet 

Surface 

Twelve 

780 square feet 

21,912 square feet 

60 pounds 

64 

8,313 

15 knots per hour 



Vertical, compound; 
twin screw ; two cyl- 
inders driving each 
screw. 

Four. 

Two of 70 inches ; two of 

114 inches. 
3 feet 10 inches. 
17| inches. 

20 feet. 

22 feet 6 inches. 

Two-bladed Griffith. 

Two. 

16,500 square feet. 

Surface. 

Twelve. 

780 square feet. 

19,824 square feet. 

60 pounds. 
74. 

7,518. 

14.65 knots per hour. 



The steam steering-gear is operated by a set of Messrs. Brotherhood 
& Hardinghanr's three-cylinder engines, which is the first of its type 
introduced into a ship of war ; it required several little alterations and 
adjustments after the first trial. 

The Temeraire, in like manner with all recently-commissioned ships, is 
provided with the apparatus and appliances for using the Whitehead 
torpedo. On each side of the vessel forward, above the armor-plating, 
there has been fitted a tube, the diameter of which is 21 inches, for the 
purpose of ejecting those instruments of destruction. She is also sup- 
plied with the Harvey torpedoes, and with outrigger torpedoes, the lat- 
ter to be used from steam-cutters. Gatling guns are provided for use 
to guard against the approach of the enemies' torpedo-boats. 

The electric light which proved so successful on board the Alexandra 
has been applied to the Temeraire, and wheu tested in the river Medway, 
in August last, objects were distinguishable for a considerable distance 
in all directions around the ship. 



THE TEMERAIRE. 97 

SYSTEM OF WORKING THE BARBETTE-GUNS. 

The principle of sinking guns entirely under cover from horizontal 
fire behind any sufficient parapet, and raising them only to deliver their 
lire, is quite old, and, like very many inventions introduced into Euro- 
pean warfare, owes its origin to American genius. 

It was proposed more than twenty years ago by officers of the United 
States Army for our fortifications, and models were made representing 
the principle of storing and utilizing the force of recoil ; i. e., the gun 
on delivering fire and sinking behind the wall raises a counter- weight, 
the fall of which again lifts the gun when required ; and some years 
ago Captain King, Engineer Corps, United States Army, successfully 
applied to one of our forts a carriage of his invention on this prin- 
ciple. 

Captain Eads, of Saint Louis, Mo., invented as early as 1861, and 
soon after successfully applied to the two-turreted gunboats Winnebago 
and Mihvauliee, built at that time on the Mississippi Eiver, a system of 
mounting heavy guns on a turn-table within a rotating turret. The 
table, with the guns and their attachments, was raised, lowered, and 
revolved by steam-power ; the guns were also moved out to the firing 
positions by the same medium, and the recoil was taken on steam- 
pressure. 

For the purpose of loading the guns, the table was lowered to the 
berth-deck. The work of construction was done under the government 
supervision of the writer. The trial tests of the machinery and firing 
of the guns to test rapidity and accuracy were personally executed by 
him, and an official report of the machinery and results of the target- 
firing was also made by him April 30, 1861, to the Secretary of the Navy, 
and published in pamphlet form. 

Subsequently Captain Eads invented and patented the principle of 
raising and lowering guns by the elastic force of compressed air, the 
mechanical appliances being very similar to those afterward used by 
Major Moncrieff in his second invention, where he has substituted for 
the counter- weight, air compressed by the recoil through the medium 
of water ; this part of the Moncrieff invention is thus described : 

The gun being supported in firing position on levers, supplemented by a ram work- 
ing in a cylinder which is in communication with a vessel the upper part of which 
is filled with compressed air, the lower portion containing water. The air has an 
initial pressure given it sufficient to raise the gun. When the gun is fired the energy 
of the recoil drives the ram down into the cylinder, forcing the water up into the air- 
vessel, thus further compressing the air. A self-acting valve preveuts the water from 
returning after the recoil has been completed. Wheu the gun has been loaded behind 
the protecting parapet a valve is opened and the water allowed to flow into the cylin- 
der. The air-pressure is thus brought to act on the ram, which at once raises the gun 
into the firing position. No power beyond that obtained from the discharge of the gun 
is required for working the gun, the air-vessel remaining always ready for use. 

The Rendel system as applied to the Temeraire is analogous to that 
originated by Eads, except that the power used by the former is applied 
through the medium of water, that used by the latter being air. An 
important distinction, however, is in the fact that as here carried out 
no attempt has been made to store up and utilize the force of recoil of 
the gun, that force being taken on a hydraulic plunger working in a 
charged cylinder having a safety-valve loaded to about 750 pounds per 
square inch. 

The towers in which the two 25-ton guns are mounted are 7 feet in 
depth, and are pear or egg shaped, the guns being placed within the 
broad part of the e^;^. The circular platform is rotated by means of 
hydraulic presses, which are fitted within the structure of the platform 
itself; the platform is arrested bv a weighted pawl, which falls into 
7 k 



98 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

notches in much the same way as may be observed in the turn-tables of 
railway-statious. The gun itself is raised and lowered by means of mas- 
sive forged bell-crank levers, of which the heads are attached to the 
trunnions of the gun, and the elbows work on bearings upon the plat- 
form, the extremities being connected with hydraulic pistons, the out- 
ward or inward thrust of which imparts the upward or downward motion 
to the piece. The elevation or depression of the gun is accomplished 
by means of an elevating arc, which is actuated by a wheel and pinion 
after the ordinary manner, and the radial action of which, in conjunc- 
tion with that of the lever, always enables the gun to be brought to the 
same plane — 3° of inclination — for loading. The sights are fitted 
to the platform so that the gun may be elevated and laid while being 
revolved into position for firing, the gunners being at the same time 
protected by a bullet proof shield. The powder and shell are brought 
from the magazine directly to the mouth of the gun, without the circum- 
locution of trolleys, by means of a hydraulic hoist working up and down 
an armored shaft or well, 3 feet 6 inches in diameter, in which also are 
placed the pipes communicating with the presses. The upper story, so 
to speak, of the cradle contains the cartridge, and the lower the pro- 
jectile. After the former has been introduced into the gun by a push 
of the hydraulic rammer, the hoist is lifted a step higher and the pro- 
jectile and the cartridge are forced home. The rammer, levers, and 
gearing are placed at the small end of the egg-shaped belt, and are pro- 
tected by a splinter-proof. Indeed, the gun is the only thing which is 
exposed in the act of firing. The hydraulic machinery is actuated by 
a couple of small engines, which may be used either in combination or 
separately, and which, though placed within the armor-belt below the 
water-line, are each worked from within the turrets. 

The final trial of the disappearing carriages and hydraulic apparatus 
for loading, training, and working the guns in the towers, was made 
November 13, and attracted much attention from the officials who were 
present. Fourteen rounds were fired from the after tower and eleven 
from the forward, with charges of 85 pounds of powder, the projectile 
weighing 530 pounds. Including the firing on former occasions, fifty 
rounds in all have been discharged from the barbette-guns, sufficient, it 
is thought, as a test of endurance in respect to the mechanism. Many 
of the rounds were fired at a floating target, but four were fired against 
time for the purpose of testing the rapidity with which the gun could 
be loaded, laid, and discharged, and also of proving the hydraulic gear 
under such conditions. From fire to fire the time was 1J minutes. The 
number of men required to work the gun being one man to lay and fire 
electrically, two men to attend the elevating-gear, one man to take 
charge of the levers for lifting the gun and rotating the platform, and 
five men to manage the rammer and shot-hoist. It is not, however, 
rapidity of fire which is the most important point, for, considering the 
weight of the projectile, accuracy is everything, a few fair hits being 
probably all that will be required to disable an enemy. 

Although the recoil of the gun with service charge amounts to 96 foot- 
tons, this, enormous force is so absorbed by the water-presses that the 
recoil upon the cylinders did not exceed an average of twelve inches. 

It has bem reported that the success of the disappearing system 
as applied in this ship has not been such as to justify its adoption into 
other ships of the British service. 

The whole of one day was devoted to the practical test of the torpedo- 
fittings of the Temeraire, and to a series of experiments with the White- 
head torpedo, an account of which will be found under the head of 
u Torpedo Warfare.' 7 



100 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

but the double bottom is only 168 feet in length ; it is divided into 
twenty separate water-tight spaces. There are nine principal athwart- 
ship water-tight bulkheads, and fifteen water-tight coal-bunkers; but 
there is no longitudinal bulkhead extending through the vessel, as in 
all recently-constructed armored ships having twin screws. This back- 
bone of strength and safety becomes impracticable in single-screw 
vessels. 

The stem of the ship has fitted to it a shifting ram, the snout of which 
is 8 feet 3 inches above the keel, and extends 8 feet ahead of the stem. 
This ram is at present stowed on board the vessel, the idea being that as 
so many accidents have occurred iu time of peace from the ram, and es- 
pecially in view of the loss of the Vanguard from the blow by the ram 
of the Iron Duke, it would be more prudent to make the ram portable 
and to fit it in place only in time of war. In favor of this plan much 
can be urged, but it seems to suggest the questions — first, whether ships 
on foreign stations will be able in emergencies of war times to go into 
docks to have their rams secured in place; secondly, whether, if they 
should succeed in this, the officers, who up to that time will be deprived 
of all experience in guarding against accidents from it, will be able to 
avoid multiplying those accidents which have hitherto occasionally 
happened under the most ordinary circumstances, notwithstanding the 
experience they have acquired. 

The outer hull of the Shannon, in common with that of all recently- 
constructed cruising- vessels of the royal navy, is sheathed with wood. 
The material is teak, put on in the usual way, iu a single course, with the 
seams left uncalked, except above the water line, for the purpose of ad- 
mitting sea-water freely between the iron hull and the zinc with which 
the planking is covered. 

ARMAMENT. 

The armament is placed on an open deck not unlike the uncovered decks 
of corvettes. It consists of niue Woolwich guns, two of which are 18- 
ton guns, under protection of armor at the bow from raking fire ahead ; 
six 12-ton guns (three on either broadside unprotected by armor), and 
one 12 ton stern-gun, which is carried on a platform amidships aft, and 
is intended to be fought at a port on either side of the deck. It is also 
unprotected by armor. The two 18-ton bow-guns can be trained to fire 
on a line with the keel, or to any point around at right angles with it. 

One of the features noticed in the design of this belted ship is the 
protection by horizontal armor at the top of the belt ; an important fea- 
ture, since the side-armor extends only 4 feet above water. 

The plated decks protect the magazines, machinery, steering-gear, 
&C, from plunging fire of any guns that might be carried on an enemy's 
upper deck, aud could easily send projectiles through the unarmored side 
above the belt. 

A second feature is the system of coal-tanks introduced for the first 
time at the bow of the vessel. An English writer says: 

Portions of the ship that have uo armor are protected hy coffer-dams, which consist 
of iron boxes about two feet broad, filled with old rope, canvas, &c, to resist shot. 
The parts so protected extend from the main to the lower deck abreast the engines aud 
boilers, and on the fore-side of the armor-bulkhead. The engine-hatch and other hatch- 
ways on the main deck will be protected iu action by 2-inch iron shutters, which at 
other times will remain open. 

Another noticeable arrangement is the adoption of two ventilating- 
cowls upon the outside of the vessel — one for carrying air directly to 
the fire-rooms, and the other for ventilating the coal-buukers. 



THE SHANNON. 101 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The ship is propelled by a single screw. The machinery was con- 
structed by Messrs. Laird Bros., of Alabama fame. The engines are 
of the compound, horizontal, return connecting-rod type, with four cyl- 
inders, two high and two low pressure, the two high-pressure cylinders 
being placed behind and bolted to the two low-pressure, the pistons of 
the former being attached directly to the latter by a single piston-rod 
and working simultaneously with them. 

The dimensions, weights, and other important data are : 
Engines: 

Diameter of high-pressure cylinders 44 inches. 

Diameter of low-pressure cylinders 85 inches. 

Length of stroke of pistons 4 feet. 

Diameter of crank-shaft at journals 17J inches. 

Diameter of air-pumps 22£ inches. 

Stroke of air-pumps 4 feet. 

Cooling surface of condenser-tubes 8,000 square feet. 

Diameter of screw-propeller 19 feet 6 inches. 

Pitch of screw, adjustable from 18 to 22 feet. 

Revolutions of engines per minute, maximum 70 

Indicated horse-power, maximum . . 3, 540 

Speed of ship on six-hour trial, maximum 12.5 knots. 

Boilers : 

Number of . 8 

Diameter . . . 12 feet. 

Length 12 feet. 

Number of furnaces in each boiler 2 

Number of tubes in boilers 3 ,700 

Dimensions of tubes 6 feet 6 inches by 3 inches. 

Total grate surface 380 square feet. 

Total heating surface „ 8,500 square feet. 

Pressure of steam per square inch , . 70 pounds. 

Weights : 
Engines, appendages, and spare gear, with water in condensers 266 tons. 
Boilers, including everything between boiler-room-bulkheads; 

also, water in boilers „ 310 tons. 

Propeller, shafts, &c 61 tons. 

Total 637 tons. 

Total cost of machinery, $245,430. 

The length of the boiler-space fore and aft is 56 feet, and the width, 
including tire-room, is about 40 feet. The boilers are placed in the ship 
back to back, against a longitudinal bulkhead, consequently they are 
divided into two sets with fire-rooms facing the side coal-bunkers ; in 
this position they are conveniently supplied with coal. A transverse 
bulkhead separates the boilers from the engines, and by a second trans- 
verse bulkhead forward they are separated from the hold ; hence the 
central position of the boilers in the ship, the division into two rooms, 
and protection by water-tight bulkheads, give all the security possible 
in event of damage to the hull by rams, torpedoes, or other causes. 

The engines operate a single line of screw-shafting. The screw-pro- 
peller is of Griffith's latest pattern, and is fitted to be disengaged from 
the driving-shaft and lifted when the ship is to be put under sail. The 
air pumps, one to each low-pressure cylinder, are worked directly from 



102 

the pistons. The circulating water is supplied by means of centrifugal 
pumps worked by independent engines. The starting.and stopping is 
effected by a small engine under the control of one man. The' engines 
are designed to work the steam expansively to any desired extent, and 
there is fitted a special arrangement of valves admitting of the use of 
steam of low pressure directly into the low-pressure cylinder, and this 
has been tested to the very moderate figure of 2 pounds ; the object of 
this arrangement being to meet a danger which it is apprehended by 
some officers may arise in going into action with steam of high pressure. 
The coal-bunker capacity is only 500 tons ; it is therefore evident that 
steaming will be the exception and sailing the rule in the Shannon. 

It is to the Eussian admiralty that the credit is due for the introduc- 
tion of the first belted cruiser. It has been four or five years since they 
built the first vessel in which the vital part, i. e., the water-line only, 
was protected by armor, leaving the guns and crew unprotected. The 
Shannon is, however, a notable improvement on the Eussian idea, and 
yet it has been authoritatively stated that, while she is capable of tak- 
ing part in general engagements if required, she was primarily designed 
for distant cruising service, the rig and sail-power being above the aver- 
age for armored broadside-ships. 

The trials of this ship at sea have not been as satisfactory as desired. 
An error appears to have been made in calculating the weights entering 
into the vessel, and this has been aggravated by additional weights put 
mi board unprovided for. As a consequence the ship is immersed more 
than was anticipated, besides which alterations became necessary in 
the topmasts, and the machinery when on trial did not prove satisfac- 
tory. 



-A-IR/T YII 



THE NELSON AND NORTHAMPTON; THE WARRIOR; THE 

WATERWITCH; THE GLATTON; A REMARKABLE 

EXPERIMENT; A TORPEDO-RAM. 



cot 



THE NELSON AND NORTHAMPTON 



These two sister ships, the former built by Messrs. Elder & Co., and 
the latter by Messrs. Napier & Sons, near Glasgow, on the Clyde, and 
just completed at the dock-yards, constitute a new type of ocean-cruis- 
ing broadside armor-plated ships. They are the last productions of 
armored vessels by the chief naval architect, and before an audience in 
the summer of 1876, at the loan exhibition, South Kensington, he pro- 
nounced them to be his "ideal of cruising fighting-ships." A glance 
at the preceding longitudinal section and plan of gun-deck will convey 
an idea of the general design. 

The length between perpendiculars is 280 feet ; breadth, extreme, 60 
feet ; mean draught of water, loaded, 24 feet 2 inches ; depth from upper 
.deck, 42 feet ; load-displacement, 7,323 tons. 

The framing is on the usual longitudinal system adopted in the con- 
struction of Her Britannic Majesty's ships of war, and in this instance 
the longitudinal frames are made of steel, so as to combine lightness 
with strength. The double bottom extends for about 150 feet amid- 
ships, and the space between the inner and outer skins is divided into 
many water-tight compartments. According to the system recently 
adopted for armored ships, there is a central longitudinal bulkhead, 
and along the whole length of the engine and boiler spaces she is divided 
longitudinally by three water-tight bulkheads, besides numerous trans- 
verse bulkheads underneath the lower deck ; also, wing-passage bulk- 
heads. Altogether, including the spaces between the two skins, there 
are 90 water-tight compartments ; all the doors leading to these com- 
partments are likewise water-tight and are to be worked by machinery, 
and every conceivable precaution has been taken to provide against 
destruction by rams and torpedoes. 

There are three principal decks: the lower, main, and upper. 

The protecting armor consists of a belt on the water-line of about 181 
feet in length amidships ; this belt is 9 feet deep, 4 feet above water, 
and 5 feet under water. It is put on in two strakes ; the upper plates 
are 9 inches thick on a 10-inch backing of teak, and the lower plates are 
tapered to 6 inches thick, supported by a teak backing 13 inches thick. 
Extending across the ship at each end of this armor-belt there is an 
armor-bulkhead ; it starts at the bottom of the armor-belt 5 feet under 
water and extends to the upper deck, having in all a depth of 22 feet. 
Its thickness is 9 inches above water, tapering to 6 inches at the bot- 
tom. Between the main and upper decks these bulkheads are shaped 
to form corner ports at the fore and alter ends of the battery. Between 
the armor-bulkheads, and at the upper level of the armor-belt, the 
lower deck is formed throughout of 2-inch plates, by means of which 
protection is afforded to the machinery, boilers, magazines, &c. A 
peculiar feature is the horizontal armor as here applied. Eor about 
57 feet at the fore end there is an armor-deck. This deck is 3 inches 
thick, and it is 5 feet under water at the junction with the armor-bulk- 
head, but inclines deeper toward the stem and terminates forward in 
the ram. There is likewise a horizontal armor-deck of the same thick- 

105 



106 ( • 

ness and depth under water, extending from the after armored bulk- 
head to the stern. These submerged armor-decks are intended to pro- 
tect the lower part of the ship fore and aft of the armored bulkheads, 
especially the steering gear provided against emergencies. From the 
above outline and reference to the annexed drawing, it will be seen that 
the central part of the vessel for 181 feet in length, in which all the 
motive machinery is contained, may be regarded as completely pro- 
tected from ordinary shots of the enemy. The ends of the vessel above 
the submerged decks are entirely unprotected by armor, and may, it is 
supposed, be riddled with shot without serious injury to the flotation of 
the vessel. 

ARMAMENT. 

The armament consists of four 18-ton guns and eight 12 ton guns 
on the main deck, also six small guns on the upper or spar deck ; the 
latter are designed to be used as torpedo-boat destroyers. Two of the 
18-ton guns, one on either side forward and one on either side aft, are 
situated behind the oblique portion of the armor-bulkheads, and the 
ports are so cut that these guns can command a fire across the line of 
bow and stern. The eight 12-ton guns, four disposed equally on either 
side, are termed intermediate, and have in front of them the thin sides 
of the ship only. They are separated by a transverse bulkhead or 
splinter-screen 1 inch thick, intended to cut off each gun's crew from 
the others. This broadside of guns is designed to be loaded and laid in 
close engagement under the shelter of the bow or stern armor, and may 
be fired by electricity without exposing the crew. 

The ram is a heavy plate, triangular in shape, set vertically, and ter- 
minating in a sharp point about 11 feet in advance of the stem ; it is 
supported by two side plates 3 inches thick, which may be regarded as 
a continuation of the armor-deck. The rudder, which is massive, is 18 
feet deep by 11 feet in breadth, and is formed by two thicknesses of 
teak planking set in a strong iron frame. The vessel has fitted to it 
bilge-keels 33 inches deep, formed of two plates riveted together and 
extending amidships about 100 feet ; and the outer bottom of the hull 
below the water-line is sheathed with one course of teak planks 3 inches 
thick, while over that there is also a sheathing of zinc. The seams 
between the sheathing-planks are left uncalked, with the view of admit- 
ting free communication between the iron hull and zinc. There are 
to be three masts fitted, as for a full-rigged ship, and the coal-bunker 
accommodation is sufficient for a long voyage and cruising in distant 
seas. In time of war it is intended that only the lower masts shall 
stand. 

The novelty of design worked out in the Nelson and Northampton 
consists in the system of armoring, and, as may be readily seen, the 
object contemplated is to give thicker plates to vessels of this class over 
the vital parts of the ship, at the expense of the exposed parts, and to 
increase the offensive power by carrying a heavier weight of ordnance. 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The machinery of the Nelson was designed and constructed under the 
direction of Mr. Kirk, the manager of the engineering works of Messrs. 
Elder & Co. The ships are fitted with twin screws, each driven by an 
independent pair of compound engines, with vertical inverted cj'linders, 
of the collective power of 3,000 horses, giving an aggregate power of 6,000 
indicated horse-power for both pairs of engines. The diameter of the 



THE KELSON AND NORTHAMPTON. 107 

high-pressure cylinders is 60 inches, and that of the low-pressure cylin- 
ders 104 inches. The length of stroke is 3 feet 6 inches, and the number 
of revolutions to be obtained on the trial was 75 per minute. These engines 
are constructed entirely of wrought iron and brass, except the cylinders, 
cylinder-covers, steam and expansion valves. The two pairs of engines are 
fixed in the ship directly opposite each other. The central longitudinal 
bulkhead of the ship, however, divides the two pairs, and all the pipes 
are arranged so that, in the event of collision or other casualty to the 
bottom of the vessel, either pair can be worked separately. Each cylin- 
der is supported by four wrought-iron columns, two cylindrical, the other 
two partly of channel section and serving as guides for thecross-head slip- 
pers. The bed-plates, or what serves in their stead, is also of wrought 
iron. For stiffening athwartships, there is at each end of the engines a 
wrought iron x frame extending across the ship from one pair of engines 
to the other, and in addition each front column has a small diagonal 
stiffener to the bed-plate, while longitudinal stays (wrought-iron bars in 
cast-iron tubes) connecting the upper part of the engines to the hull 
give stiffness fore and aft. The condensers are composed of brass 
plates riveted together. The valve-gear is a modification of the Allan 
type. The crank-shafts are in two parts, interchangeable, 16J inches in 
diameter in the bearings, with an aggregate length of bearing of 9 feet 
6 inches. The propeller-shafts are hollow, made of Whitworth's com- 
pressed steel. The screw-propellers are 18 feet in diameter, work out- 
ward, and they are of the Mangin type, i. e., two2-bladed screws on each 
hub, separated from each other.* 

BoilerL — The boilers are ten in number, with three furnaces in each, 
set back to back against the longitudinal bulkhead, with the fronts tow- 
ard the sides of the ship. They are oval in shape, 12 feet 6 inches wide 
by 14 feet 6 inches high, and 9 feet 6 inches long, and are divided by 
transverse water-tight bulkheads into four separate fire or boiler rooms. 
The furnaces are made iu short lengths, riveted together with flanges 
having distance-pieces between them. The pressure of steam is to be 
60 pounds per square inch. All the necessary pumps and equipments 
described for other vesels are here provided. 

The machinery for the Northampton was designed and constructed by 
Messrs. John Penn & Son, of Greenwich. The engines of this ship are 
of Penn's new type, three-cylinder vertical inverted, the first design of 
which was made in 1875 for the Italian corvette Cristoforo Colombo, 
built at Venice. The three cylinders are of equal diameter, 54 inches, 
with a stroke of 39 inches. The cranks are set at equal angles, and the 
shafts are interchangeable. When the ship is to be driven at full speed, 
the engines are to be worked as simple expansive engines, cutting off 
the steam long or short, as desired ; but under all ordinary conditions 
of steaming they are intended to be worked on the compound system, 
taking the steam first in the center cylinder and expanding it in the two 
outside cylinders, valves and connections being provided to effect the 
change from one system to the other when desired. Each cylinder rests 
on wrought iron columns in front, i. e., on the side nearest the center of 
the ship, and on cast-iron columns behind ; each has a main slide and 
an expansion-valve, each valve having its own link-motion. The start- 
ing-platforms are about midway up the engines, and placed between 
them, with direct communication between the two through the longi- 

*The Mangin screws have given satisfaction as applied to several twin-screw vessels 
in England and France where the space permitted sufficient separation of the screws 
on the shafts; but as applied to one of our single-screw second-rates, iu a short well, it 
proved, as might have been expected, unsuccessful. 



108 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



tudinal bulkhead. The power to be developed by the engines of the 
Northampton is to be the same as provided for the Nelson, and the boil- 
ers are almost identical, ten in number, of the elliptical type, with three 
furnaces in each, and to carry a pressure of 60 pounds per square inch. 

The ends of the ship are provided for coal-tanks. 

On the trial trip made last autumn, with steam at 60 pounds pressure 
per square inch in the boilers, 27 inches of vacuum and 83£ revolutions, 
a mean of 6,037 horse-power was obtained. On the five-hour contract- 
ors' trial of the Nelson, made in February of this year, the mean indica- 
ted power developed was 6,250 horses, with a maximum speed of 15 
knots. 



THE WARRIOR. 



This fine old ship, the first iron-armored ship built in England, was 
lying at Portsmouth during my visit to that place. It is worthy 
of note that while the first productions of all nations, of wooden 
ships clad in armor, have gone to decay, the iron hull of the Warrior, 
now seventeen years old, presents no sign of deterioration, being to all 
appearances as sound and as durable as when set afloat in 1860 ; and 
although large expenditures for repairs have been made on the vessel 
and her machinery, the hull proper has required no expenditure beyond 
that for its preservation by cleaning and painting. The description, 
dimensions, and performance of this ship have appeared in various pub- 
lications many years ago. In consequence of her great length (380 feet), 
unhandiness, and thin armor (4J inches), she is no longer regarded as 
suitable for action in great naval battles, but her success as to speed at 
so early a day in the race for naval supremacy seems to deserve atten- 
tion still. In 1874 a new set of boilers, made at the Portsmouth dock- 
yard, were fitted on board. They are of the old box type, having su- 
perheaters, with the usual appliances of this variety. The grate-area of 
the boilers is 780 square feet, and the heating surface 19,906 square feet. 

The cylinders were rebored, the slide-faces and ports strengthened and 
braced, and the expansion- valves altered to give an earlier cut-off. After 
these repairs the ship was put on trial at the measured mile, to test the 
machinery and speed against the runs made over the same ground 
thirteen years previously. 

The following is a comparison of the trials at full power on three 
several occasions : 



October, 1861. 



April, 1863. 



May, 1874. 



Pressure of steam in boilers 

Revolutions . 

Indicated horsepower 

Speed, in knots 

Pitch of screw 

Immersion of screw 

Ship by the stern 



22. 00 pounds. 
54. 25 
5,471 
14. 354 

30 feet. 

11 inches. 

11 inches. 



21. 6 pounds. 
53.14 
5,270 
14. 079 

30 feet. 

27 inches. 

23 inches. 



21. 5 pounds. 
56.0 
4,811 
14. 158 
27 feet 8£ inches?. 
13 inches. 
5 inches. 



One curious result noted is the same speed on the last trial with 459 
less horse power than on the former trials many years previously. 



fclOi) 



THE WATERWITCH. 



The Waterwiich was built as an experimental vessel, to test the Ruth- 
ven system of propulsion by a turbine wheel, or what is known as the 
water-jet engine. The vessel is built of iron ; is 162 feet long, 32 feet 
broad, 13 feet 9 inches deep ; has a load-displacement of 1,279 tons, and 
the indicated horse-power on the measured mile was 777. She has an 
excessively flat floor, is double-ended, and fitted with a rudder at each 
extremity. An armor-belt 4£ inches thick at the water-line extends 
around the hull, which rises at the middle of her length into a casemate 
rendered complete by athwartship bulkheads. The propelling instru- 
ment consists of a turbine wheel, or centrifugal pump, 14 feet 6 iuches in 
diameter, made of wrought and cast iron. This wheel revolves in a 
chamber 19 feet in diameter, in the center of the hull, below the water- 
line, and the chamber is bored to a smooth surface inside, in order to 
reduce hydraulic friction to a minimum. The turbine has 12 radial 
blades or vanes, and weighs about 8 tons ; it is put in motion by a set 
of three engines, arranged at angles of 120 degrees, the connecting-rods 
taking hold directly of a single crank rising vertically above the wheel- 
casing, an application similar to the manner in which the engines of the 
old Union and the Alleghany were connected to- the once well-known 
Hunter wheels. * The engine-cylinders are 3SJ inches in diameter and 
the stroke of pistons 3 feet 6 inches, and are supplied by steam from 
two ordinary box-boilers having 6 furnaces. 

The wheel receives the water from a rectangular box, or tank, resting 
on the keelsons of the ship, and placed in free communication with the 
sea by means of a large number of rectangular orifices in the bottom. 
From the wheel-casing perimeter at opposite sides, two copper pipes, 
about 27 inches by 25 inches internally, lead to the discharge-nozzles at 
the ship's side. These are 24 inches by 18 inches, and extend about 8 
feet along the side of the hull just above the water-line, so that the 
engines have to raise the water through a very small height. A sluice- 
valve is arranged at each side in such a manner that the current from 
the turbine may be directed ahead or astern at pleasure by simply mov- 
ing a lever, the engines revolving always in one direction. The water 
taken in through the bottom of the ship is expelled at both sides in the 
line of the keel, and the reaction of the fluid issuing at high speed im- 
parts forward motion to the hull. The movement of the vessel ahead 
or astern is regulated by the direction of the escape of the water. If 
the water escapes aft, the movement will be ahead ; if it escapes toward 
the bow T , it will be astern. 

The idea is exceedingly simple and very old. As far back as 1661, 
Togood received a patent for propelling vessels by expelling water from 

* As early as 1782, James Rumsey made a public experiment on the Potomac with a 
boat 80 feet long, propelled by a steam-engine working a vertical pump in the middle 
of the vessel, by which the water was drawn in at the bow and expelled through a 
horizontal tube at the stern ; she went at the rate of 4 miles per hour. Benjamin 
Franklin and Oliver Evans suggested substantially the same mode of propulsion. 
Subsequently various applications of the principle were tried in the United States 
without success. 
110 



THE WATERWITCH. Ill 

their sterns. In 1730, Allen secured a patent for nearly the same thing ; 
and the proposal was also made by Bernouilli eight years subsequently. 
Indeed, the extreme simplicity of the system seems to have attracted 
many inventors, for down to the year 1857 it appears that upward of 
fifty persons have either proposed or patented the scheme in Europe, 
and many experiments were tried from time to time, but none of them 
received much encouragement until Mr. Euthven entered the field, and 
the success, such as it has been, which attended his exertions, seems to 
have been mainly due to the adoption of the centrifugal pump, with 
equable and enormous delivery, instead of the ordinary piston-pump 
commonly adopted by other inventors. 

Euthven's first patent is dated in 1839. Under this, two small boats 
were built and exhibited on a canal at Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1849, 
another boat was built and exhibited on the Thames. In 1853, the 
Albert was built on this principle in Prussia by Mr. Sydel, the engines 
and pump being furnished by the patentee. In 1865, the Nautilus was 
built iu England, embodying all of Mr. Euthven 7 s improvements up to 
that date. With this little vessel, several experiments were made in 
the presence of the admiralty authorities, the results of which betrayed 
them into the construction of the Waterwitch. 

In consequence of the convenience of directing a vessel ahead or 
astern by the simple movement of a lever from the deck, this system of 
propulsion has been very fascinating to many officers; but unfortu- 
nately for this instrument of propulsion, in common with the Hunter 
wheel, the Fowler wheel,* and all such submerged water-wheels as ap- 
plied to steam -vessels, an extraordinary power must be developed by 
the engines to obtain a small result; or, in other words, only a small 
amount of the power developed is utilized. 

At the trial of the Waterwitch, a vessel of only 1,279 tons displacement, 

* Fowler's steering-propeller is a submerged wheel revolving on a vertical shaft, with 
paddles which are feathered by an eccentric cam in such a manner that the paddles 
shall have a pushing and drawing action on the water while passing through the pro- 
pelling arc, and present only their edges to the water while passing the dead-points. 
By turning the cam-wheel, which is done at the wheel on deck by a simple connection, 
the feathering is done at different points, and the vessel may be backed or turned on 
her center without reversing the engines. 

The letters patent of Mr. F. G. Fowler, dated January 4, 1870, describe it as follows : 
"It is a submerged marine propeller, or feathering sculling-wheel. It consists of a 
vertical shaft, from which proceed horizontal arms, to the extremities of which are 
attached blades by pivots placed on their vertical central line. These blades oscillate 
on their pivots, as the propeller revolves, in such a manner that they exert a propel- 
ling force throughout their entire circuit except when passing two points or centers, 
when they are neutral. This oscillating motion is produced by an eccentric with which 
each blade is connected, and the propelling force is exerted in the direction in which 
the short radius of the eccentric extends. By suitable connections between the eccen- 
tric and helm the steersman is enabled to turn the eccentric, and thereby cast the pro- 
pelling force to any point of the compass, by which means he is enabled not only to 
move the boat forward and backward in a direct line, but to steer it gradually to the 
right or left, or in a very short curve, or cause it to turn in either direction, on its own 
center and in its own length of water, the said arrangement serving the treble purpose 
of propeller, rudder, and reversing-gear." 

A propeller- wheel of this description was applied to the revenue-cutter Gallatin, on 
Lake Erie, in 1872; but after several trials it was condemned, as being less efficient 
than the screw propeller, and, with the machinery to work it, removed from the vessel. 

A Fowler wheel was also applied to the United States torpedo-vessel A\arm about 
the same time, and a board of officers has recently recommended its removal and the 
substitution of the Mallory steering-propeller in its stead. 

Hunter's steering-propeller, patented in 1874, and intended for canal-boats, is similar 
to the Fowler wheel in some respects. It has two wheels on opposite sides of the stern- 
post, revolving in opposite directions. The blades are feathered so as to have but one 
dead-point. 



112 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

of light draught and good lines, a. power of 775 horses was developed 
to obtain an average speed of 6£ knots per hour. 

Additional alterations and experiments were made two years ago, with 
the view to obtaining better results. These alterations consist in su- 
perseding the 140 small apertures through which the water is admitted 
by one large aperture under the wheel, and in the bottom of the ship ; 
also in lengthening the nozzles at the sides through which the water 
makes its escape. The results of the trials after these alterations will, 
of course, be nearly the same as in previous trials. The speed of the 
vessel at sea has never exceeded 5 or 6 knots, and although ten years 
old she has never been trusted out of sight of land, and, as she is neither 
fit for coast defense nor harbor service, it is believed that the next move 
will be to break her up ; and thus ends the experiment of propelling 
vessels bv means of turbine wheels. 



THE GLATTON. 



COAST-DEFENSE VESSELS. 

Of the twelve coast-defense vessels named in Part I., the Glatton is 
the most powerful. She is an iron double-screw turret-ship of 4,912 
tons displacement. Her length is 245 feet; breadth, 54 feet ; and draught 
of water, 19 feet. 

The maximum horse power is 2,868, and the maximum speed 12 
knots. The hull is double bottomed, and divided into water-tight com- 
partments in the usual manner. 

Tbe armor of the hull proper consists of two strakes, the upper (above 
water) being 12 inches thick, and the lower (below water) 10 inches in 
thickness. The former has a teak backing of 18 inches, and the latter 
a backing of 20 inches. 

The breastwork, which rises 6 feet 3 inches above the upper deck, is 
armored with plates 12 inches thick, having behind it a teak backing 
of 18 inches. The deck extending on either side of the breastwork con- 
sists of 1-inch plates covered by 2-inch plates, and over this, 6 inches of 
oak planking. The turret, which rises out of the center, above the 
breastwork chamber, is 30 feet 6 inches in external diameter, and there 
is a space of 6 inches between it and the surrounding glacis-belt, which 
is 3 feet in breadth. 

The general thickness of the turret-armor is 12 inches, with 15 inches 
of teak backing. 

All the coast-defense vessels are engined on the old system, the Cyclops 
and Hydra excepted, the engines of which were the first examples of 
Elders compounds introduced into armored ships. Each vessel has a 
pair of vertical inverted cylinders to each of the two screws. 

The boilers are cylindrical, and the pressure of steam is 60 pounds per 
square inch. 

A KEMAKKABLE EXPERIMENT. 

At the time the Glatton and other monitors were undergoing construc- 
tion, considerable diversity of opinion existed in England as to the 
ability of the turret to revolve and to be worked after having been struck 
in action by heavy projectiles; that is, whether by the impact of a 600- 
pound shot, propelled by a 12-inch rifled gun at short range, a turret such 
as the one represented would be jammed or prevented from working. 
There was also to be ascertained the probable damage that might be 
caused to the guns and other interior fittings of the turret. With a view 
of arriving at a definite solution of this question, it was determined to 
select the Glatton as a target, and to cannonade her turret with project- 
iles from the heavy guns of the coast-defense vessel Hotspur. In com- 
pliance with this decision, the two vessels were moored at a distance of 
200 yards from each other. 

The Glatton, above mentioned, carries a single turret, in which were 
mounted at the date of the experiment, July, 1872, two 25 ton Woolwich 
rifles, being the heaviest guns at that time in the British navy. 

The turret of the Glatton, against which the shots were directed, is 

113 

8 K 



114 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

shown in the horizontal section A on the accompanying sketch. The 
armor consists of plates laid on in two rings or tiers, eight plates in each 
ring, the upper ring or belt having six plates 12 inches thick, and two 
plates 14 inches thick, namely, those pierced by the port-holes. The 
lower ring contains seven plates 12 inches and one plate 14 inches thick ; 
the last mentioned being that between and beneath the portholes. The 
backing is of such thickness as, with the plates, to make up a total of 
29 inches everywhere; that is, 15 inches of oak behind 14 inches of iron, 
or 17 inches of oak behind 12 inches of iron. Behind the backing comes 
1J inches of skin, consisting of two thicknesses of f -inch plate j then ver- 
tical girders 5 inches in depth with spaces between,, and, finally, what 
may be termed an inner skin or mantlet skin, of J-inch iron, to prevent 
bolt-heads and splinters from flying into the interior of the turret and 
injuring the men working the guns on service. 

The Hotspur is a ram, 235 feet between perpendiculars. 50 feet in ex- 
treme breadth, with a mean draught of water of 10 feet 10 inches, and 
her armament consists of one 25-ton Woolwich muzzle-loading rifle. 
Against the strongest portion of the Glattotfs turret this gun was brought 
to bear, at a range of 200 yards. The projectiles used were Palliser 600- 
pound shot, chill-headed, and the powder-charge was 85 pounds large 
pebble. The results have been summarized by the Engineer, as follows : 

The first shot struck at the spot marked B in the elevation, with effects shown in 
section at A and at B. 

(1) The entire upper plate was forced back to a distance, at point of junction with 
lower plate, of 5i inches ; (2) shot penetrated to a depth of nearly 20| inches ; (3) hori- 
zontal joint between upper and lower plate was opened to a width of 2 inches ; the 
same effect being manifest in the corner of the top plate being lifted 2 inches higher 
than that of the adjacent plate ; (4) the lower plate was cracked in a vertical direc- 
tion and otherwise contorted at the edge ; (5) a bolt was driven some inches backward, 
the head flying into the interior of the turret ; (6) the double skin was bent back and 
forced open to a width of about 3 inches, the wood protruding ; (7) the I inch or inner 
skin was torn open and hanging down to the extent of about 4 feet by 18 inches, a 
number of rivet-heads, as well as bolt-heads, being thrown into the interior of the turret. 

Although a little below the spot intended, it was quite clear that this round gave a 
heavy contorting blow to the turret, the top of which had been so far forced back; it 
was, nevertheless, found that the turret revolved without the slightest difficulty, and 
for the object of the experiment the next round might be proceeded with. Considering 
the spot struck by the first blow, it seemed advisable to pass on a 1 : once to the trial of 
a blow at the line of junction between the turret and glacis-plate. By means of a 
mark painted at C, elevation, a shot was delivered, grazing the glacis-plate at a point 
3 feet from the turret and glancing into the turret, whicb it penetrated to a depth of 
about 15 inches, the shot, as before, standing well up to its work and coming easily 
out of the hole uninjured as far as the front row of studs. The effects produced by 
this round are chiefly shown in section C. They are (1) penetration about 15 J inches ; 
(2) glacis-plate grooved to a depth of about \ inch and. cracked ; (3) flange-ring cover- 
ing joint of turret and glacis cut through and bent ; (4) lower side of glacis-plate bent 
back and split open to a width of about f inch ; (5) — not shown in figure — a sort of bind- 
ing-plate, fixed on the lower edge of the armor side beneath the deck, broken off for a 
length of some feet and the edge bulged downward. 

This round again severely tested the working of the turret, not perhaps quile to 
severely as might be conceived were a similar blow to fall in a more downward direc- 
tion, but quite the kind of blow intended. On trial the turret was again found to 
work freely and easily. The ports, which up to this time had bteu covered and plugged 
up with beams of wood, were cleared open and two rounds were fired from each gun ; 
one a full blank charge of 70 pounds of pebble-powder, and one a battering charge of 
85 pounds of pebble-powder with shot. The turret revolved easily in about a minute, 
and we are not aware that any effort was used to obtain speed. In short, the Glattt n 
was in good fighting trim at the conclusion of the experiment. Considering how great 
are the chances against a second shot falling exactly on a spot already struck, it would 
hardly be going too far to say that the Glutton was in nearly as good condition to go 
into action as before the trial. Yet it would be difficult to put her through a more 
severe ordeal, except by bringing the 35-ton gun to bear on her, and as for the object 
of the experiment, namely, injury to the working of the turret, it may be doubted 
whether much more effect would, even then, have been produced. A plunging fire we 
are inclined to believe the most likely to jam the turret. 



CO 




Z 




O 


Ui 




I 


K 


1- 


o 


U- ; 


UJ 





CO 









THE GIATTON. 115 

At the beginning of the experiment several animals and fowls were 
placed in the turret, and at the conclusion they were found uninjured. 

The damaged plates, shown in the drawings, were removed to the 
Chatham dock-yard, where I had the privilege of examining them. 

SAKTOEIUS TORPEDO-RAM. 

The sum of 860,264 has been appropriated toward the construction at 
Chatham of a vessel now known as the Sartorius Torpedo-Ram. But 
as yet little definite information regarding its structural arrangement 
or dimensions has been made public. It has, however, been reported 
that the vessel will be 250 feet long, will have a draught of 20 feet and 
a displacement of 2,500 tons ; that she will only expose about 4 feet of 
the hull proper out of water, and this portion will be convex and ar- 
mored with steel plates ; that the engine-power will be sufficient for a 
very high speed, while the coal-carrying capacity will also be great ; and 
that she will have a light hurricane-deck above the cigar-shaped hull, 
but will not be provided with masts or guns. 

This extraordinary craft is intended to ram armored ships about 5 or 
6 feet below the water-line, and for this purpose she is provided with a 
formidable submerged ram-snout ; while at the same time she is to dis- 
charge a number of torpedoes from her stem and also from her sides. 

Some of these particulars resemble very much the ideas embodied in 
the model prepared some years ago by Commodore Ammen and still ex- 
posed to view in our Kavy Department. 



DP^IR/T YIII 



COST OF BRITISH ARMORED SHIPS; TABLE OF DIMENSIONS, 
ETC., OF THE ARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 






117 



COST OF BRITISH ARMORED SHIPS. 



The account rendered of the cost of the construction or repair of a 
vessel or its machinery in one of our navy-yards is that of the actual 
labor and material entering into such construction or repair, uo account 
being taken of the cost of plant, tools, appliances, fuel, &c, used in con- 
nection therewith. 

In the British navy a different system prevails. A nominal percent- 
age is added to the actual cost of labor, materials, and stores entering 
into the construction of the vessel, to cover what is believed to be the 
ship's share of the value of maintenance of the plant, appliances, ma- 
terials, &c, necessarily employed in the dock-yards as shipbuilding 
establishments. This nominal percentage has differed materially iu the 
years prior to 1836, but since that time a bulky volume has annually 
been presented to Parliament, containing upward of 700 pages of fig- 
ures, which gives in great detail information of a definite character as 
to the cost of building and repairing every vessel in the British navy. 
These volumes were, to some extent, in existence before 186S, but prior 
to that time they could not, for purposes of comparison, be regarded as 
trustworthy, consequent upon the results of individual judgments ob- 
tained by takiug the actual cost of maintaining the dock-yards and of 
their plant, and distributing it ratably over the dock-yard construction 
and repairs of ships at the dockyards. Thus, in comparing the cost of 
the Achilles with that of the Bellerojihon, as the former was built when 
the percentage was low and the latter when it was high, it is found that 
these accounts make the former-named vessel apparently cost consider- 
ably less than the latter, though she really cost considerably more. 
Since 1866 this fluctuating percentage has been excluded from the ac- 
counts, and the details relating to the cost of ships have been limited to 
the actual prime cost of production ; or, in other words, to the cost of 
the labor, materials, &c., expended on them. At the same time, the 
necessary information is given enabling a percentage to be added. The 
following extract from a carefully-prepared paper in the London Times 
will be found interesting, showing, as it does in detail, the cost of con- 
struction and maintenance of the British navy for eighteen years : 

While it was difficult to assess beyond the reach of dispute the proper charge ships 
•should bear as their share of the cost of keeping up the dock-yards and machinery neces- 
sary for construction and repair, it was not so difficult, though the difficulty must, 
necessarily, have been great at first, so to limit the items of charge on account of ship- 
building as to CD able an effective comparison to be made between the estimate voted 
by Parliament and the actual expenditure incurred on our fleets for construction and 
repair; to be able, in fact, to prepare an account which should show on one side the 
actual votes for labor and stores as given in the navy estimates, and on the othsr side 
the actual fruit of those votes in dock-yard work of all kinds. The difficulty, which for 
years existed, of establishing anything lik<; a satisfactory and direct relation between 
the oioney voted lor ships by Parliament and the money actually paid for ships and 
expended upon ships by the admiralty was seriously felt, and was acknowledged to be 
a blot on naval finance; but the course taken by Mr. Childers guaranteed this impor- 
tant result, and on this principle these accounts since 1866 have been framed. To make 
this comparison more effectual, the navy estimates are now always accompanied by an 
analysis of the ship-building votes, or " retabulation," as it is called, which forms tin- 
basis of the dock-yard accounts. This, however, is not the only result which these 
accounts give. In addition to the comparatively simple process of setting off actual 
against estimated expenditure, an exhaustive balance-sheet, which prefaces these 
nts, shows the value of land, stock - , buildings, and other elements of property 



120 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



representing the value of our dock -yards at the commencement of each year, with the 
receipts from various sources on one side; on the other, the expenditure of stores and 
labor during the year ; and, finally, the balance at the end of the year of stores in hand, 
and of the appreciated or depreciated value of dock-yard property. Regarded simply 
for the purposes they are intended to serve, these are, perhaps, the most complete 
government accounts to which the public have access. 

In endeavoring, therefore, to ascertain what iron-clad ship-building has cost the coun- 
try, it is possible to refer for eight successive years to accounts which give, readily and 
uniformly, this information. While it is only since 1866 we are able to accept the fig- 
ures in these accounts as useful for this purpose, we are, fortunately, previously to that 
date, not left without trustworthy information. Mr. Reed, in his book on " Our Iron- 
clad Ships," gives in detail the cost of iron-clads from the earliest date, and his figures 
are no doubt derived from official sources. 

Before the date of these accounts, then, we have Mr. Reed's figures ; and since the 
31st of March, 1874, the date of the last published account, an official return gives the 
estimated cost of each iron-clad which was then incomplete, or has been since com- 
menced. Mr. Reed's figures give the sum of £7,338,687 as the cost of construction 
before 1866 ; the admiralty accounts, the sum of £5,961,203 as the cost between 1866 
and 1874 ; and the estimated cost from 1874 to the present time gives the sum of 
£3,439,035, of iron-clads incomplete but still under construction. The result is that the 
cost of our iron-clad fleet which has been both completed and commenced may be calcu- 
lated at the sum of £16,738,935. During the past 18 years, then, while the navy esti- 
mates have amounted to £197,000,000, the sum of £16,500,000 has been spent on the 
construction of iron-clads ; and, if the cost of wear and tear, repair and maintenance, 
be added, we may raise this sum to £18,000,000. Mr. Reed's statement that our iron- 
clad fleet had, since it was first commenced, cost the country about £1,000,000 a year, 
was founded on a liberal calculation, and is beyond a doubt correet. 

The two divisions of expenditure on iron-clads into construction and repair will be 
dealt with separately. 

In turning, then, to the cost of construction, it will be found that, including four 
floating batteries, sixty iron-clads of all kinds have been built either by contract or at 
the royal dock-yards. * 

The following table exhibits the total amount spent each year on iron-clad construc- 
tion, and the amounts paid to contractors and spent at the royal dock-yards for this 
purpose : 





Cost of construction. 




At the dock- 
yards. 


By contract. 


Total. 


1866-67 


£436, 301 
440, 143 
384, 146 
536, 293 
558, 800 
345, 750 
2tt,956 
377, 715 


£154, 840 

348, 474 
725, 914 
540, 055 
455, 415 

349, 288 
61,869 

8, 244 


£591,141 


1867 '68 


788, 617 
1,110,060 
1, 076, 348 
1,014,215 


1868-69 


1869 '70 


1870-'71 


1871-72 


695, 038 


1872 '73 


299, 825 
385, 959 


1873 '74 




Before 1866 


3, 326, 104 
3, 481, 843 


2, 644, 099 

3, 856, 844 


5, 961, 203 
7, 338, 687 




Total 


6, 807, 947 


6, 530, 943 


13, 299, 890 








The following table gives the expenditure for construction and wear and tear (in- 
cluding repairs and maintenance) of vessels of all kinds in the effective navy : 




Cost of building. 


Cost of wear and tear, 
&c. 


Tot; 1. 




Iron-clad. 


Not iron- 
clad. 


Iron-clad. 


Not iron- 
clad. 


1866 '67. . 


£591,141 

783, 617 

1,110,060 

1, 076, 348 

1,014,215 

695, 038 

299, 825 

385, 959 


£423, 265 
1, 103, 132 
584, 302 
310, 699 
316, 599 
439, 134 
509, 262 
904, 069 


£109,145 
159, 552 
187,699 
130, 743 
1S2, 065 
87, 595 
158,933 
291, 381 


£782, 728 
568, 489 
426, 0S4 
468, 623 
451, 880 
358, 388 
336, 259 
464,911 


£1,906,279 
2, 519, 790 
2,308,150 
1 986 413 


1867- '68 


18fi8-'69 


1869 '*0 


1 870-7 1 


1, 964, 759 


1871 '72 . 


1,630 155 


Ih7:2 73 


1 304 279 


1873-74 


2, 046, 320 




Total - 


5, 961, 203 


4, 540, 462 


1,307,113 


3, 857, 362 


15, 666, 145 





COST OP BRITISH ARMORED SHIPS. 



121 



This table throws a fuller and more accurate light than the previous one on the ship- 
building policy and expenditure of these eight years. 

But to give these figures their full value and to test them, as it were, independently, 
it is desirable to compare them with the amounts voted by Parliament for ship-building 
and for all naval services, and to compare them further with the number of artisans 
employed and the tonnage of shipping annually built. The result should present a 
complete chart of the ship-building work and a guide to the ship-building policy of 
these eight years, which cannot fail to be interesting. The following table gives this 
information : 





Expenditure on 
building and re- 
pairs. 


it 

.2.2© 
•+=.3 5 


Total naval esti- 
mates. 


a 

© 

a 

© 

a 


Tonnage built. 


Year. 


"3 

o 

s- 
H 


O 3 
£ 3 

O c3 © 

H 


1866-67 


£1,906,279 
2, 519, 790 
2, 308, 145 
1, 986, 413 
1, 964, 759 
1, 630, 155 

1, 304, 279 

2, 046, 320 


£2, 718, 000 
3,091,000 
3, 219, 000 
2, 655, 000 
2, 124, 000 
2, 557, 000 
2, 384, 000 
2, 797, 000 


£10, 031, 000 
10, 976, 000 
11,157,000 
9, 996, 000 
9, 370, 000 
9, 756, 000 
9, 532, 000 
9, 872, 000 


18, 607 
18, 309 
15, 464 
14, 124 
11,223 
12, 831 

12, 826 

13, 485 


7,013 

12, 448 
15, 045 
18, 769 
12,567 
10, 678 
4,798 
4,050 


15, 384 


1867 '08 


33, 701 


1868-69 


26, 291 


1869- ! 70 . 


24, 230 


1870-'71 


19, 925 


1871-'72 


21, 137 


1 872-'73 


16, 092 


1873-'74 


17, 329 






Total 


15, 666, 090 


21, 545, 000 


80, 690, 000 




85, 368 


174, 089 





To return, however, to the cost of construction. The sum of sixteen and one-half 
millions sterling rex>resents, as has been shown, the total cost of iron-clad construction, 
past and prospective, so far as naval accounts and estimates are concerned. To the 
31st of March, 1874, the sum of £13,299,890 had been actually spent of this sum. What 
have we got for it? Forty-nine finished and seven unfinished iron-clads. These last 
consist of the Alexandra, Temeraire, Dreadnought, and Inflexible, whose partial cost 
had amounted in March, 1874, to £1,084,887. The remaining 49 vessels, whose total 
cost had been brought to account in March, 1874, had cost £12,215,000. Judging by 
the standard suggested by Mr. Reed, we may cousider seven only of these 49 vessels 
effective ; or, we may say that, of the above sum, two millions sterling represent the 
cost of our effective iron-clads, and ten millions of those which are obsolete or inef- 
fective. To go still further into detail, it may be interesting to compare the cost of 
these two classes. In the obsolete class of broadside-vessels the Warrior, for instance, 
one of the oldest, was built at a cost of £379,154, and her sister ship, the Black Prince, 
at a cost of £378,310, each having a burden of 6,109 tons. Then the Achilles, with 
6,121 tons, cost no less than £470,230, and the Northumberland, with 6,621 tons, cost 
£490,681. Of modern iron-clads the Hercules and Saltan are smaller, having a ton- 
nage of 5,226 tons only, but they may each be regarded as four times as strong as the 
Warrior, while their cost in construction was respectively £377,007 and £374,777. A 
smaller class of vessel, which the loss of the Vanguard has drawn attention to, namely, 
the Audacious class, consists now of five vessels, each having a tonnage of 3,774 tons. 
The Audacious cost £256,295, the Iron Duke £208,763, and the Vanguard £272,100. In 
the construction of the Bellerophon, an attempt was first made to economize the cost of 
construction, and at the same time increase the strength. The vessel cost to build 
£364,327, or more than £100,000 less than the Achilles, wi h which it may be compared. 
Of turret-vessels, two, the Monarch and (rlatton, are included in the class of the seven 
effective iron-clads already referred to. The Monarch cost £371,413, aud the Glatton 
£223,105, to build. The unfortunate Captain cost £355,764. The most expensive of 
the four small coast-defense vessel?, built in 1870, is the Cyclops, which cost to build 
£14!), 465; aud the two rams, the Hotspur and Rupert, cost respectively £175,995 and 
£235,032. So far, then, as these 49 vessels are concerned, it seems clear that, as time 
advanced, the tont of construction diminished ; it may, indeed, be said that recent in- 
vention lias had the tendency to increase power with diminished size and cost. The 
satisfaction, however, this statement may cause must, we foir, be short-lived ; for, w hile 
up to 1874 or 1875 this is true enough, since then iron-clads have become much more 
expensive than ever. Increased prices and more costly appliances have had an unmis- 
takable effect on the iron-clads now under construction. The Inflexible is estimated to 
cost £521,750, the Dreadnought £508,395, and the Alexandra £521,500, Then the Teme- 
raire is to cost £374,000, the Xelson £333,800, and the Northampton £349,000. These 



122 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



vessels, not yet finished, show a startling advance in cost as compared with some of the 
vessels we have noticed, or even with vessels like the Thunderer and Shannon, which are 
not yet complete, hut are of earlier construction, and are estimated to cost £334,000 and 
£266,500 respectively. These points are worth noting, as they are essential to auy 
effective criticism or comparison of past and present naval expenditure, and will help 
to correct many erroneous impressions on the subject. Bnt a more serious element of 
disturbance in naval finance has been caused by the sudden if uot entirely unsuspected 
demands made for the repair of iron-clads. 

The repair of iron-clads is a difficulty which has only made itself felt seriously in the 
past three years. Mr. Goschen, in bringing forward the naval estimates in 1873, alluded 
to the necessity which existed for making special provision for this work by employing 
additional hands at the dock-yards. But Mr. Hunt, following in the same line, ex- 
plained last year that extensive repairs of a costly character were inevitable. When 
iioclads were first built it was considered satisfactory that, although the cost of con- 
struction was great, the ships would last longer than unarmored vessels. This, how- 
ever, seems doubtful, now that we have the experience of fifteen years as a guide ; and 
even were iron-clads exceptionally durable, it is quite certain their repair is exception- 
ally costly. For the first ten years the charges for repair were, comparatively speak- 
ing, light; but during the last three years the necessity of entering upon an expensive 
course of repair has made itself felt. The following table shows the actual co3t during 
the eight years from 1*866 to 1874 of providing for the wear and tear of iron-clads and 
unarmored vessels, and of keeping them in repair, in commission, and reserve : 



Year. 


Iron-clads. 


Unarmored 
vessels. 


Total. 


1866 '67 " 


£109,145 
159, 552 
187, 699 
130, 743 

182, 065 

87, 595 

158, 933 

291, 381 


£782, 728 
568, 489 
426, 084 
468, 623 
451, 880 
3*58, 388 
336, 259 
464, 911 


£891, 873 
728 041 


1367 '68 


186^-'69 


613, 783 


1369-70 


599, 366 


1370-71 


633, 945 
445 983 


1871 '72 


1872-73 


495, 192 
756 292 


18";3-'74 . 






Total 


1,307,113 


3, 857, 362 


5, 164, 475 



Here it will be seen that in 1873-74 the largest expense was incurred for the repair 
of iron-clads. It is also worthy of remark that a small number of vessels only was 
dealt with, as a reference to the accounts would prove. Thus, in that year alone the 
Achilles cost £24,907, the Bellerophon, which had cost nearly £30,000 in 1870, was 
again in 1873 charged with an expense of £40,395; the Minotaur cost in this year 
£16,681; the Northumberland, £10,255; the Resistance, £31,647; and the Warrior the 
large sum of £50,000. From these instances it will be seen that the maintenance and 
repair of iron-clads have introduced a new and serious element of expense into the 
ua ,T y which for some years is likely to make itself severely felt. A reference to the 
above table will show that the cost of the maintenance and repair of the entire fleet, 
for the eight years which have been analyzed, amounts to more than five millions ster- 
ling, of which £1,307,113 is applicable to iron-clads; and that of this sum no less 
than a third was incurred during the last ten years. * * * * Coming now to the 
consideration of what has been the cost of repairing individual vessels during this 
period, it appears that those which have already been classed as obsolete or old- 
fashioned, including serviceable and unserviceable ships, have cost during this period 
£870,000. Of these the Warrior is the most remarkable; for her cost has amounted, 
for maintenance and repair, to £124,245. She was built in 1860, cost £379,154 to build 
and fit out for sea, and has now, in the eight years since 1866, cost no less than a third 
of this sum to keep in good order. The Defence and Resistance, which were built at 
the same time as the Warrior, but are much • smaller, have cost during the same 
period no less than £82,450 and £91,965, which, when compared with the cost of their 
construction, are large sums. The Black Prince, sister ship to the Warrior, and built 
at the same time, has for the same period cost only £59,193. But this difference 
would, in all probability, vanish if we knew what her cost had been during the past 
two years. The Minotaur has cost for the same period £55,627, and the Achilles 
£61,209, against a cost of construction of £478,885 and £470,230 respectively; the 
Hector, the cost of whose construction was about half that of either of those vessels, has 
cost for repair and maintenance £56,490. These, however, are all old-fashioned broad- 
side-vessels. The turret-ships are most of them too recently built to enable an opinion 
to be formed of what they will cost to repair; it will bo seen that the whole cost 
amounts to £139,845. Of this sum the Monarch absorbs a large share, which amounts 
to £53,018. Of effective and powerful eea-going broadside-vessels, the Bellerophon, 



COST OF BRITISH ARMORED SHIPS. ]23 

Hercules, and Sultan may be takeu as good examples. The Belleroplion was launched in 
1665, and the cost of her maintenance and repair, from 1866 to 1874, is £87,256, or 
about one-fourth of the cost of her construction, which was £364,327. The Hercules 
was launched in 1866, and has, similarly, cost £37,537, against a cost of construction 
of £377,007 ; and the Sultan, which is, comparatively speaking, a new vessel, has only 
cost £15,666. The Vanguard shows a cost, since 1869, of £12,891 ; the Iron Duke, since 
1870, of £ 17.022 ; and the Invincible, since 1870, of £18,274. These instances prove suffi- 
ciently that the cost of the maintenance and repair of iron-clads is a growing item of 
naval expenditure, and an item which requires as much consideration, from a financial 
point of view, as building. When a million a year represents the full normal average 
amount available for iron-clad construction out of naval estimates amounting to ten 
millions sterling, it is alarming to find £300,000 is required in one year alone for their 
repair and maintenance. 



124 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



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MODERN UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN; TABLE OF 

DIMENSIONS, &c. ; THE INCONSTANT, SHAH, RALEIGH, 

BOADICEA, BACCHANTE, ROVER, EURYALUS, 

AND SMALLER VESSELS. 



9 k 



I.. 



UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



It has been noted already in this report that all the old types of Brit- 
ish naval vessels are gradually disappearing from the navy list for 
lighting or cruising purposes; sailing-craft, paddle-wheel vessels, and 
auxiliary or low-speed screw-vessels are alike obsolete. Besides which, 
wooden vessels of all classes are docrned, and at no distant day will be 
counted out or relegated to harbor service. The modern cruising-fleet 
consists of full-powered screw-ships, having iron or steel hulls cased in 
wood ; and vessels of the smaller class called composite, in which the 
materials are either iron or steel, except the outside planking, put on in 
two courses, as is hereafter described. 

The corvettes Sapphire and Diamond, built in 1874, were the last 
wooden war-vessels that will probably ever be added to the British 
navy, for it has been authoritatively made public that no more wooden 
ship-frames, knees, or beams will be required at the dock-yards. 

The British modern unarmored cruising-fleet may be divided into 
seven or eight classes or types. The frigates, corvettes, and sloops of 
this new fleet, constructed and in process of building, are as follows : 

MODERN" UX ARMORED SHIPS. 





6 


© 


a 








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£■ 






11 


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eS ro 

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a 




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02 

o 


Remarks. 


IKON FRIGATES. 






















Shah 


334 8 


52 


23 


6,040 

5,782 


Simple 

....do 


7,477 
7,361 


16 6 


SB 


1, 119, 861 
1, 036, 756 


In Pacific ; first com- 
mission. 
Second commission. 


Inconstant 


333 


50 1 


23 7 


16.5 


16 




298 


49 


22 


5,200 


do 


6 158 


15 5 


t >.) 


939, 856 


Do 


IRON CORVETTES. 




















280 


45 


22 


4,027 
3,932 


Compound 
do 


5,130 
5,250 


14 8 


H6 


1,040,040 
1, 020, 600 


Fitting for sea. 
Do. 


P.acchante 


280 


45 


21 7 


15 


U6 


Euryalus 


280 


45 


21 7 


3, 932 


....do 


5,250 


i 


ll(i 


1,015,740 


Do. 




280 


4.', 6 


20 2 


3,494 
3,078 
3,078 


do 


4 964 


14 5 


H 


782, 460 
617, 706 
613, 104 


First commission. 
Built in 1870. 
Do. 


Volage 


270 


42 1) 
4-> 




Simple 


4,532 
4,015 


15 


1 J 




270 




15 


10 


One of new type, 














dimensions not 






















given. 






















STEEI. DI8PATCH- 






















VESSBLS. 






















Iris 


300 


4(j 


20 


3 735 


Compound 
do . . 


7,000 
7,000 


16 5 


Ml 


§889, 380 


Fitting for sea. 
Building at Pem- 
broke. 


Mercury 


300 


46 


20 


3^735 


§17 


HI 

















* The speeds of the ships were taken when the engines were being driven to the utmost for a short 
period onlv. 

t Under covered deck. ♦ Trial trip not made. § Estimated. 

131 



132 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OP WAR, ETC. 

Modem unarmored shijjs of Great Britain — Continued. 





.2 
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XII 


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Cost of hull and machinery, 
in dollars (gold). 


Remarks. 


STEEL AND IRON 
CORVETTES. 

Cleopatra 

Carysfort 

Champion 


225 

225 
225 
225 
225 
225 

220 

220 
220 

220 
220 
220 

170 
170 

170 
170 

170 

170 

170 

170 


44 6 

44 6 
44 6 
44 6 
44 6 
44 6 

40 

40 
40 

40 
40 
40 

36 
36 

36 
36 

36 

36 

36 

36 


20 

20 
20 
20 
20 
20 

16 3 

16 3 
16 3 

16 3 
16 3 
16 3 

14 6 
14 6 

14 6 
14 6 

14 6 

14 6 

14 6 

14 6 


2,383 

2,383 
2,383 
2,383 
2,383 
2,383 

1,864 

1,864 

1,864 

1,864 
1,864 
1,864 

1,124 
1,124 

1,124 
1,124 

1,124 

1,124 

1,124 

1,124 


Compound 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

Compound 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

Compound 
do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 


2, 300 113 

2, 300 1 13 
2, 300 1 13 
2, 300 tl3 


14 

14 
14 
14 
14 
14 

14 

12 

12 

12 
12 

12 

6 
6 

6 
6 

6 

6 

6 

6 


400, 000 

400, 000 
400, 000 
400, 000 
400, 000 
400, 000 

420, 390 
397, 908 


Building by Elder & 
Co., Glasgow. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 


Conquest 


2, 300 tl3 
2, 300 1 13 


Do. 
Do. 


COMPOSITE COR- 
VETTES. 

Opal 


2,116 

1,972 
1,990 

2,100 
2,100 
1,830 

987 
720 

900 
900 

800 

1,010 

900 

900 


12.5 

12.5 
12.5 

12.5 
12.5 

12 


In Pacific; first com- 


Tourmaline 

Turquoise 


mission. 
First commission. 
In Pacific ; first com- 




mission. 
Fitting for sea. 
Do. 






Ruby 




In Mediterranean; 


COMPOSITE SLOOPS. 

1st class. 


220, 678 
220, 678 

220, 678 
220, 678 

220, 678 

220, 678 

220, 678 

220, 678 


first commission. 
Fitting for sea. 




In Pacific; first com- 


Cormorant 


mission. 

Building at Chatham. 

Building at Devon- 
port. 

In East Indies; first 
commission. 

In Pacific ; first com- 


Wild Swan 

Osprey 




mission. 
Building at Devon- 




port. 
Building at Sheerness. 






2d class. 


160 

160 

160 

160 
160 

160 

150 
125 


31 4 
31 4 
31 4 

31 4 

31 4 

31 4 

29 
23 6 


13 

13 

13 

13 
13 

13 

12 
9 


894 

894 

894 

894 
894 

894 

700 
430 


Compound 

....do 

....do...,. 

....do .... 
....do 

....do 

Compound 
....do .... 


916 

884 
836 

1,011 

838 

975 

656 
406 


8 


4 

4 

4 

4 
4 

4 

3 

4 


171, 558 

171, 558 

171, 558 

171, 558 
171, 558 

171, 558 

145, 800 
70, 837 






cific. 
In commission; Aus- 


Flying Fish 


tralia. 
In commission; East 

Indies. 
In cominission ; China. 


Albatross 

Fantome 


In commission ; Pa- 
cific. 
Do. 


SINGLE-SCREW, 
COMPOSITE GUN- 
VESSELS. 

Six of Arab class. 

Twenty -one of 
Coquette class. 


Displacement and 
horse-power vary for 
different vessels. 
Do. 



* The speeds of the ships were taken when the engines were being driven to the utmost for a short 
period only. 
I" Estimated. 



MODEEX UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 133 

Id addition to the above there are eleven twin-screw iron gun-vessels 
of 774 tons displacement and 811 indicated horse-power; twenty-one 
twin-screw composite gun-vessels of 584 tons displacement and 587 indi- 
cated horse-power; thirty-eight twin-screw iron gun-vessels of 254 tons 
displacement and 262 indicated horse-power ; and five siDgle-screw gun- 
vessels of 570 tons displacement and 336 indicated horse-power, all of 
modern build. 

Several other unarmored corvettes are projected. It is intended to 
construct them with an armored deck three feet below water, and with a 
ram, and to fit them to use the Whitehead torpedo. The speed is to 
be 13 knots per hour. 

The first essential element of power for an unarmored cruising man- 
of-war of the present day is speed ; a speed sufficiently high to overtake 
any vessel on the ocean desirable to capture, and to escape from any 
powerful fighting-ship desirable to evade. 

The above-named vessels constitute the present fleet of fast unarmored 
cruising-ships of the British navy. The hulls of these vessels, larger than 
the Opal, are of iron and steel, and they are built with improved struct- 
ural arrangements for securing great strength to withstand the immense 
engine-power put into them and to endure it for any desirable length of 
time. The bottoms are sheathed with wood, and coppered or zinked to 
prevent fouling. They carry a large spread of canvas, are provided with 
lifting screw-propellers, and are in all respects fitted to keep the sea. 
They have not the speed aimed at by the naval authorities, i. e., such 
speed as- will be attained in the class of vessels now building called 
rapid cruisers, and in which vessels requirements for keeping the sea for 
lengthened periods must be sacrificed; but they have speed superior to 
that of the cruising-ships of any other navy, besides which they are 
reputed to be excellent sea-boats, fast under sail, and are armed with 
rifled guns, some of which are of heavy caliber. 

The Inconstant is the only one of the number to my knowledge that 
has as yet been driven under full steam-power alone for upward of 
twenty-four consecutive hours. This was in the emergency when carry- 
ing the news of the loss of the unfortunate Captain from Gape Finisterre 
to England, on the 7th of September, 1870. On this occasion a speed 
of very nearly 15 knots per hour was averaged for the whole distance.* 
The speed of each of these cruising- vessels on the measured mile has 
been shown in the column above, and it is fair to conclude that the 
maximum performance of any one of them at sea, in smooth water, for a 
period of, say, twenty-four hours, would be one and a half knots less 
than was recorded on the measured-mile trials. 

THE INCONSTANT. 

Every officer familiar with the progress and advancement in naval 
science of late years is acquainted with the fact that when the Wampa- 
noa<) and that class of vessels were under construction at New York 
and Boston, reports went abroad of the extraordinary speed and terri- 
ble power they were designed to possess, and of the fearful destruction 
which would follow their path. These reports, published in American 
journals, and copied and commented on in the Loudon papers, alarmed 
the British government ; and as a consequence the chief constructor of 
the admiralty was directed as early as 1S66, before the Wampanoag 
was completed, or her defects known in Europe, to prepare the plans 

* It has been understood that the Inconstant' 8 speed on this occasion was nearly 
lv knots.— An English Naval Architect. 



134 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC 



for competing vessels. Thus originated the Inconstant. She was de- 
signed for full-sail power, and provided with a lifting screw, and to give 
sufficient scope for the combination of high speed with what was then a 
heavy armament, good sea-going qualities, a large carrying capacity, 
and provision for all requirements ; she was made to have a displace- 
ment of 5,782 tons, was 333 feet long, had 50 feet beam and 23 feet 
mean draught of water. Iron sheathed with wood, and coppered, was the 
material chosen to stand the immense strain of the power to be devel- 
oped by the engines. She was launched November 12, 1868, and the 
trial cruises were made upward of a year afterward. Subsequently a 
sister ship, the Shah, was constructed, and was launched in 1873. These 
two ships represent the largest class of unarmored frigates, and are in all 
essential features of construction the same. The latter has, however, 
an increased length of 20 inches over the former, and, in order to confer 
greater stability than is possessed by the Inconstant, an increase of 
beam to 52 feet was given. 

The armaments of the Inconstant and Shah are as follows : 





Main deck. 


Upper deck. 




Pivot-guns. 


Broadside. 




10 124-ton. 

< 16 ej-ton. \ 


2 6|-ton. 

2 18-ton. 


4 6J ton. 
6 64-pdrs. 


Shah 




I 2 64-pdrs. J 





The particulars of the ShaWs guns are taken from a paper published 
by the committee on designs. Several alterations, tending to greater 
efficiency, have been made, and one — the substitution of 18 for 12 ton 
pivot-guns — is embodied above. 

The bow-guns fire on a line with the keel. The 18-ton 10-inch guns 
mounted on the Shah are similar to the broadside-guus of the Sultan 
and the Hercules. 

The Inconstant has been refitted during the last autumn and again 
commissioned. It is worthy of consideration that this iron ship, 
sheathed in wood, now nearly ten years old, is still sound in all parts 
of the hull and iron work, and notwithstanding the alterations neces- 
sarily made to keep pace with the times — such as fitting tubes and 
gear for Whitehead torpedoes, and apparatus for charging the torpedoes 
with air, building magazines for these, also for the Harvey torpedoes, 
rearranging the armament, scraping, cleaning, and painting the iron 
skin, repairing the machinery and fitting the ship for sea — the cost of 
the refit, exclusive of boilers, is reported at only $58,320. 

The heavy armament formerly carried remains unchanged, but the 
power of the guns is increased by using battering charges of 50 pounds 
of pebble-powder for the Palliser shell, instead of 43 pounds as pre- 
viously used, and the weight of the projectile is increased to 250 
pounds. 

THE EALEIGH. 



This ship, launched also in 1873, is of the same general design aud con- 
struction, but of reduced dimensions. The cost of her construction was 
$180,005 less than the cost of the Shah, and $96,947 less than that of the 
Inconstant. Although the Raleigh is not possessed of as powerful a 



MODERN UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



135 



battery as the larger ships, she is by far more serviceable, more easily 
handled, and less costly to maintain. The comparison betweea the 
Raleigh and the Inconstant stands thus : 



Raleigh. 



Inconstant. 



As designed. 



As com- 
pleted. 



Tonnage 

Displacement 

Length between perpendiculars. 
Breadth, extreme 

Draught {tS""* 

h»-p—!=— ::::::: 



Gans 



'i upper deck 
J main deck . 



3,210 
5,200 
298 feet. 
49 feet. 
20 feet. 
23 feet. 
800 
5,639 
2 12Hon. 
4 64-pdrs. 
14 90-cwt. 
2 64-pdrs. 



3,978 
5,495 
333 feet. 

50 ft. 1 in. 

22 feet. 

24 feet. 
1,000 
7,361 

4 6i-ton. 
10 12A-ton. 



4,066 
5,782 



These ships, as previously stated, are built of iron ; externally they are 
entirely sheathed with wood, the chief object of which is to admit of 
copper being applied to the bottom. There are two thicknesses of 
sheathing, except over parts of the top-sides, where there is one thick- 
ness only; the first is secured to the skin of the ship by galvanized 
iron screw-bolts, which are tapped into the skin, but also bear lock-nuts 
on the inside. The bolts are of course screwed in through holes pre- 
pared in the wood, for the holes become unduly enlarged if there is the 
slightest want of concentricity between the threaded and the plain parts 
of the bolt, thus occasioning leakage through the wood to the skin. The 
second layer of planking is secured to the first by metal wood-screws, 
which stop short, naturally, of the iron skin, and avoid contact with the 
galvanized bolts. The two courses of planks break joint, and are care- 
fully put on the iron skin, the planks being properly painted and their 
joints made tight by calking. The wood is teak, and the thickness as 
a rule is, for the first course 3 inches, and for the second 2£ inches, taper- 
ing as the top is approached. This system has been tested for some 
years on the Inconstant, and has proved to be so successful that its adop- 
tion for all naval iron cruisiug-vessels, both of English and Continental 
build, has become general. It may be well to mention that the courses 
of planks are both applied horizontally, except in the Shah, where one 
course is vertical and the other over it horizontal.* 

The motive steam-machinery of all these ships was designed and con- 
tracted for prior to the date of the adoption of the compound engine by 
the admiralty. They are, therefore, of obsolete types, and the consump- 
tion of fuel in each of them is upward of 30 per cent, greater than in 
the ships of recent construction. Moreover, the anticipated speeds have 
not been realized. t 

A. brief description of the machinery of the Raleigh and of the trials 
may not be out of place. The engines, constructed by Humphrys, Ten- 
nant & Co., are of the horizontal, direct-acting, return-connecting-rod 

* It is the Inconstant, the first built of the type, in which one thickness of sheathing 
is worked vertically and the other horizontally. In the other both thicknesses are 
horizontal.— Ax English Naval ARCHITECT. 

tThe speed the Inconstant was designed to have over the measured mile w r as 16 knots, 
and the actual speed 16.52. The Shah was designed for 10 to 16.1 knots, and made 16.65, 
and the Raleigh was designed for 15 to 151 knots, and made 15$. — AN ENGLISH Naval 
Architect. 



136 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAK, ETC. 

type, and intended to indicate 6,000 horsepower. A few of their dimen- 
sions are as follows : 

Number of cylinders 2 

Diameter of cylinders 8 feet 4 inches. 

Stroke o 4 feet 6 inches. 

Diameter of piston-rods, 4 to each piston 7 inches. 

Diameter of back trunk, 1 to each piston 1 foot 6 inches. 

Travel of slide-valves ( vertical, double-ported ) 10£ inches. 

Length of valve 5 feet 10 inches. 

Width of valve 5 feet 1-J inches. 

Length of ports 5 feet 2-fe inches. 

Width of bars in extreme ports, 2 in each 2 inches. 

Width of bars in other ports, 2 in each 1 inch. 

The expansion- valves are horizontal and of the gridiron type, placed 
above the slide-casing, and worked from rocking-shafts by means of 
eccentrics on the main shaft. The cut-off ranges from 3 J inches of the 
stroke onward, and is varied by moving the end of the eccentric-rod 
along a quadrant arm on the rocking-shaft. There is one surface-con- 
denser to each cylinder. The air-pumps are 25J inches in diameter, 
double-acting, and worked direct from the pistons. The circulating- 
pumps are centrifugal, and driven by separate engines with 12-inch cyl- 
inders having 12 inches stroke, exhausting into the condensers j the water 
is forced through the condensers outside the tubes. The condenser- 
tubes are vertical, and there are 6,740 in each condenser; their dimen- 
sions are as follows : 

Diameter inside h inch. 

Diameter outside f inch . 

Length between tube-plates . 6 feet 6£ inches. 

Cooling surface 12,000 square feet. 

The starting-gear can be worked by hand or steam. A Silver's gov- 
ernor is fitted. The propeller is by Hirsch, two-bladed, has 26 feet 8 
inches pitch, and is fitted for being raised when the ship is under sail 
alone.* The number of boilers is nine ; but two of them are small and 
intended for auxiliary purposes ; these are together equal to one of the 
large ones. The chief data relative to the boilers are as follows : 

Number of furnaces .. 32 

Length of fire-grate 6 feet 10 inches. 

Breadth >. 3 feet 3^ inches. 

Area of fire-grate 720 square feet. 

Number of tubes 2,S80 

Length between tube-plates 6 feet 4 inches. 

Diameter of tubes outside 3 inches. 

Tube-heating surface 14,300 square feet. 

Number of superheaters (steam passing through the tubes) 2 

Number of tubes 248 

Diameter of tubes, inside « f 2 inches. 

Length of tubes 9 feet. 

Superheating tube surface 1,170 square feet. 

Number of chimneys 2 

* The screw-propeller invented by Hermann Hirsch, of Paris, patented in France 
December 16, 1865, and in the United States April 26, 1870, has been successfully ap- 
plied to many ships in Europe. The claims set forth in his letters patent are, "1st. 
Constructing screw-propellers with blades the faces of which are formed of concave 
lines in cross-section, iu combination with an increasing pitch or helicoidal inclination 
from the axis to the circumference. 2d. Iu combination with said transverse curva- 
ture and graduated helical form, the recession of the forward terminal edges of the 
blades." 

A two-hladcd screw, made from the drawings of Mr. Hirsch, was applied to one of our 
second-rates in 1872, but after a trial at sea in rough weather it was reported on un- 
favorably, and removed from the vessel. The Hirsch screw was also applied to the 
United States vessels Trenton, Tennessee, and Huron. It was removed from the latter, 
but remains on the former and has given satisfaction. 



MODERN UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



137 



The boilers are of the ordinary box kind, and carry 30 pounds pressure 
on the square inch. The dimensions quoted above give the following 
relative areas per indicated horse-power : 

Square feet. 

Grate surface 117 

Tube-heat in g surface 2. 320 

Superheating tube surface - '. 190 

Condenser-tube cooling surface 1. 950 

Trials of Her Britannic Majesty's ship Raleigh. 



Date of trial 

Kind of trial 

"Where tried 

Draught : 

Forward 

Afc 

Mean 

Ship by the stern 

Screw : 

Diameter 

Length, greatest 

Upper edge, immersed 

Force of wind 

State of sea 

Steam-pressure and tem- 
perature: 

Boilers 

Superheaters 

Engines 

Vacuum ; 

Forward 

Aft 

Revolutions per miuute 
Indicated mean pressure 
Indicated horse-power . . 

Speed of vessel 

Revolutions per knot 

Slip, per cent 

Temperatures: 

Deck . .- 

Eugine-room 

Stoke-hole, aft 

Stoke-hole, fore 

Kind of coal used on 

trial. 



April 1, 1874 '\ September 2 

Measured mile j 6 hours 

Maplin Sands Off Portsmouth.. 



19 feet 6 inches 
23 feet 6 inches 
21 feet 6 inches 
4 feet 



21 fret 10 inches 
25 feet 2 inches . 
23 feet 6 inches ., 
3 feet 4 inches . . 



21 feet 21 feet 1 inch ... 

3 feet 2i inches 3 feet 3f inches . 

2 feet 10 inches 2 feet 5h inches . 

4 to 5 4 too 

Smooth Moderate 



f 32.7 pounds. 

I Mean, 310°. 

I 31.2 pounds, 274°. 

27. 6 inches, 
j 26. 9 inches. 
) 73.9 

19.8 

C157 
I 15.503 

286.0 
I 20. 28 



f 29.1 pounds 27.4 pounds 

370° | Mean, 325° 

I 27.6 pounds, 282° 25.9 pounds, 289°. 



27. 4 inches 

j 26. 4 inches 

) 58.5 

13.8 

J 3413 

13.455 

|260.8 

I 12.6 



27. inches 
26. 5 inches 



19.1 

5541 

15.139,calculatec 

272. 5, calculated 

16. 35, calculated 



56 degrees 65 degrees . 

77 degrees 

105 degrees 

118 degrees 

Xixon's navigation 



87 degrees. 

118 degrees 

110 degrees 

Nixon'a naviga- 
tion. 



September 2. 
Measured mile. 
Stokes Bay. 

21 feet 11 inches. 
24 feet 10 inches. 
23 feet 4* inches. 

2 feet 11 inches. 

21 feet 1 inch. 

3 feet 3J inches. 
2 feet lj inches. 
3 

Smooth. 



28 3 pounds. 
Mean, 320°. 
26.8 pounds, 281.-. 

26. 8 inches. 

26. 8 inches. 

69.6 

19.2 

5639 

15. 320 

272.5 

16.35 

64 degrees. 
83 degrees. 
108 degree?. 
92 degrees. 
Xixon's naviga- 
tion. 



The Inconstant has seen considerable service ; the Raleigh made a 
cruise to India and returned; but the Shah was just put on the last 
ineasured-mile trials at the time of my visit on board that vessel in 
April, 187G, and she is now in the Pacific on her first commission. 

It is now freely admitted by the authorities that both the Inconstant 
and the Shah are undesirable property. They were too costly to build, 
are too costly to maintain, and too unwieldy to handle.* It is said by 
Mr. Brassey, M. P., that " the designers of these vessels were betrayed 
into an exaggeration of size from over-anxiety to combine in a single 
ship every quality with which an unarmored vessel can possibly be en- 
dowed. They were to possess unrivaled speed, both under steam and 



* We have never seen any reason for believing that this is a correct statement of the 
estimation in which these ships are held by our admiralty. The placing of the Shah 
on the South Pacific station is a proof that their qualities are highly estimated, while 
the action between the Shah and the Peruvian iron-clad Huascar showed that instead 
of the Shah being too unwieldy to handle, as Mr. King says, she was maneuvered with 
snch ability and success as to avoid being struck by the enemy. The power of the Shah, 
which might have been made much greater by the introduction of the heavier armament 
she is able to carry, combined with her handiness, was sufficient to enable her to come 
successfully out of a contest with an unquestionably bandy vessel protected by armor- 
plating. It should be remembered, however, that, as Mr. King lias said, these ship- 
were built to compete with the American Wampanoag class, about which some alarm 
was felt in this country while they were being built, and that in this competition the 
English ships have been successful. There have been no threats expressed since the 



138 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

UDder sail, and to be armed with such batteries of armor-piercing guns 
that it was hoped engagements might be fought even against armored 
ships with some prospect of success. The attempt was ambitious and 
not altogether unsuccessful, but they are now found to be too expensive 
for mere protection of commerce, and their guns would be useless 
against armored ships of the present day.' 7 U A perfect ship of war," 
as it was very prudently observed by the admiralty committee on de- 
signs, " is a desideratum which has never yet been obtained ; any near 
approach to perfection in one direction inevitably brings with it disad- 
vantages in the other." 

We now come to recent productions, ships set afloat two years ago, and 
ships not yet completed. They are the Boadicea, Bacchante, Euryalus, 
and Btover. These vessels are of smaller dimensions than the Raleigh; 
they are engined on the new system with three-cylinder compound en- 
gines, and promise, with modifications which experience may prove ad- 
vantages, to have permanence as types. They are all rated as corvettes, 
although the main batteries of the first three named are carried under 
covered decks. 

THE BOADICEA. 

This ship has 95 tons more displacement than the other two just de- 
scribed; she has a brass stem, and the bottom is sheathed with two 
courses of planks and coppered, while the other two ships are built to 
utilize the power of the ram ; and with this object in view, they are 
formed with upright bows, have iron stems, and are sheathed with 
only one course of planks which is covered with zinc instead of copper. 

When such vessels are fitted for ramming, it not only becomes neces- 
sary to make the stems of iron or steel, but also to build them of addi- 
tional strength, and to avoid coppered bottoms, for the reason, that 
any damage to the bow in ramming which should expose the iron skin 
to the action of the copper sheathing would cause serious galvanic 
action. 

The Boadicea has been completed and equipped for sea. Her engines 
were tested at the measured mile in October, 1876, and in December a 
special run of six hours' duration was made, when the following results 
were attained, the draught of ship forward being 20 feet 6 inches, and 
aft, 22 feet 4 inches : 

Pressure of steam in boilers, 70 pounds ; horse-power in the first hour, 
4,893, with 73 revolutions; in the second hour, 5,406 horse-power and 
74.6 revolutions ; in the third hour, 5,414 horsepower and 75.3 revolu- 
tions ; in the fourth hour, 5,227 horse-power and 74.5 revolutions ; in the 

building of the English ships, of sweeping our commerce off the seas in the event of 
war, by fast American cruisers. This is a complete justification of the Inconstant ami 
Shah if any were required. Mr. Brassey's criticism was obviously based upon an imper- 
fect appreciation of the objects with which these ships were first designed, and of the 
manner in which they have been realized. — An English Naval Architect. 

In selecting the action between the Shah and Ruascar to prove the handiness of the 
former, "An English Naval Architect" is unfortunate, for, whereas the Shah possessed 
this quality only in a small degree, the Haascar possessed it in a still smaller, and 
moreover was by far the slower vessel. 

I must concede that the Wampanoag attained her speed, viz, 16.97 nautical miles per 
hour, for only twenty-four hours during her trial trip at sea, in one hour of which she 
achieved 17.75 nautical miles, and that she never performed any service thereafter. 
This class of vessel was built during our war, at a time when all the iron-mills were 
working to their full capacity to fill orders. As a consequence, the hulls being unfor- 
tunately built of wood, were not capable of sustaining the weight and great power of 
the engines. The war having ceased before the vessels were completed, no necessity 
existed for their use. — J. W. K. 



Compound Engines of H.B. M.S. Rover 



JLour //ress u re 
Cylinder. 



JiX&tLu str Fijoe . 



//zjg'/i Pressure 
Cy/inder. 



JZx/iaust JPz'pe 



l.ow Pressure 
dy /in de r. 



AH, 



. UrossJ/ead Guides . 



Condenser. 



Cross Jfead £ aides 



Condenser. 



- 47rass Jfead Guides , 



MODERN UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



139 



fifth hour, 5,523 horsepower and 75 revolutions ; in the sixth hour, 5,320 
horse-power and 74.4 revolutions ; the mean being nearly 5,300 horse- 
power, 74.5 revolutions, and speed 14.5 knots. 

The engines are reported to have worked satisfactorily, and one fea- 
ture of tbe trial was working them with a pressure of only 10.5 pounds 
in the boilers. 

THE BACCHANTE. 

The Bacchante, built at the Portsmouth dock-yard, and recently fitted 
for the first commission, is of the same length and breadth as the Boadi- 
cea, but the draught of water is 5 inches less, and the displacement 
3,932 tons against 4,027 tons. Unlike her sister, she has been built 
with a ram-bow and running-in bowsprit, to enable her to ram wooden 
and unarmored ships. A second difference is in the wood sheathing 
applied to the outside hull; this is formed of a single strake covered 
with zinc instead of copper, the seams between the planks being un- 
calked, with the view that as the water gains access to the iron skin, 
and galvanic action is set up, the hull is then supposed to be preserved 
at the expense of the zinc. With the exceptions named, she is similar 
to the Boadicea, even as regards the armament, in regard to which there 
exists considerable diversity of opinion among officers since the fiasco 
between the Shah and Huascar. 

The eugines, which have been constructed by Messrs. Keunie Bros., 
are of the compound, horizontal, return-connecting-rod type of three 
cylinders; the high-pressure cylinder being 84 inches and the low- press- 
ure 92 inches in diameter, with a stroke of 4 feet. 

The steam is supplied by ten cylindrical boilers; the initial pressure 
of steam is 70 pounds per square inch, and the contract indicated horse- 
power is 5,250. 

Late in the summer of 1877 a trial of the machinery was made with 
the ship light, the draught at that time beiug 15 feet 4 inches forward, 
and 21 feet 6 inches aft. A six-hour run was made, and the following 
results were recorded : 



Pressure of steam, 
in pounds. 


Vacuum, in 
inches. 


Revolutions. 


Horse-power. 


67 
70£ 
71 
69 


27 and 26* 
27 aiid26.V 
26£ and 25 
26£ and 25 


72. 60 
73.36 

73. 33 
72.50 


5, 293. 75 
5, 432. 38 
5, 246. 34 
5, 154. 51 



The mean results gave 5,282 horses, or 32 beyond the stipulated 
power, the mean revolutions per minute being 73. 

The means for the entire six hours were as follows : Pressure of steam 
in boilers, 68.33 pounds ; vacuum forward, 2G.75, aft, 2G.37 inches ; rev- 
olutions, 72.G8 ; mean pressure of steam in cylinder, high-pressure, 
31.80 pounds, low-pressure, 11.08 pounds ; horse-power, 5,164. 

The speed through the water attained during the day never fell below 
15, and, measured by the ship's log, a speed of 15J knots per hour was 
occasionally realized. 

THE ROVEK. 



This vessel was built by contract; she has 493 tons less displacement 
than the Bacchante and Euryalus. She was launched August 12, 1874, 
put on the trial trips in November, 1875, and sent to the West India 



140 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

squadron immediately thereafter. She approaches the size and rype of 
a class of vessels very greatly needed in our own Navy. The length 
between perpendiculars is 280 feet ; breadth, extreme, 43 feet 6 inches ; 
draught of water forward, 17 feet 2 inches ; aft, 23 feet 2 inches ; dis- 
placement, 3,494 tons. 

The contract price for hull and machinery was $ 782,460. She was 
made large enough to be sea-going, to act as a ram, and to be fast; and 
no ship having structural strength to endure the engine-power neces- 
sary to drive her 15 knots per hour, to act as a ram, to have all the re- 
quirements necessary for a war-ship, and to keep the sea as a cruiser, is 
likely to be made very much smaller until some further advancement is 
made in engineering. 

The engines are the first of their kind completed and used in the 
British navy, and special interest has been taken in their performance. 
They are compound and surface-condensing, and belong to the type 
known as the horizontal return connecting-rod, and have their cross- 
heads working in slipper-guides. According to the contract, they 
were to indicate 4,750 horse-power at the measured-mile trial. 

The preceding diagram shows the main parts of the engines in plan. 
The diameter of the high-pressure cylinder is 72 inches, equivalent to 
an area of 4,071.51 square inches of piston. The diameter of each low- 
pressure cylinder is SS inches, and the area of piston 6,082.13 square 
inches. The two low-pressure pistons combined giving an aggregate 
area of 12,164.26 square inches, the high and low pressure pistons bear 
the ratio to each other of 1 to 2.987 in effective area. The high-pressure 
cylinder, which is fitted with a working barrel made of Sir Joseph 
Whitworth's patent compressed steel,* is placed between the two low- 
pressure ones, and each cylinder stands separately and distinctly by 
itself, securely attached to its own two main frames — these latter, six in 
all, carrying the crank-shaft. The slide-valve of the high-pressure cyl- 
inder is placed on the upper side of it, and lies on its face; the valve- 
face of the cylinder is cast separately, and bolted to its place, with a 
view to its ready repair or removal in case of need. The slide-valves 
of the low-pressure cylinders are placed on the sides of the latter, the 
valve-faces of these cylinders being also bolted on ; and all the slide- 
valves are fitted with the usual metallic packing-rings on their backs to 
relieve the pressure. Steam : starting-gear, in addition to the ordinary 
hand-gear, is fitted for facility of handling them, and the easy way in 
which these large engines can be handled is best told by describing the 
results obtained. While running full speed ahead, they were stopped 

* This metal, first introduced by Sir Joseph Whitworth, about twenty years ago, and 
since used for his ordnance, is now gradually gaining favor for such constructions as 
demand a material of exceptional strength and toughness, or where a combination of 
strength and lightness is essential, as in many parts of marine steam-engines, especially 
in cylinder-linings and valve-faces, where hardness is also necessary to resist abrasion. 

Steels, as ordinarily cast by pouring into ingot-molds, are found to be porous and 
comparatively heterogeneous in texture, and brittle in consequence of gas and air- 
holes. Whitworth adopted the simple but effective expedient of subjecting the ingot 
or casting, while still molten, to the tremendous action of a heavy hydraulic press 
while solidifying ; by this means the pores and bubble-holes are effectually closed, and 
the compressed steel is given a strength and homogeneity unequaled by any other known 
metal. Although a simple expedient, it has required a considerable amount of experi- 
ment, ingenuity, and cost to produce this compressed steel with uniform success; this 
was, however, accomplished, and the material is now used in the British navy, in 
France, and in Austria. 

The inventor has stated that by a careful selection and treatment of metals, a steel 
can be produced capable of resisting a tensile stress of 45 tons per square inch of sec- 
tion, and of elongating 25 per cent, before breaking. 

First cost is the only objection raised against its general use. 



MODERN UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 141 

iu nine seconds, went astern at full speed in six seconds more, and were 
reversed from that position to full speed ahead again in eight seconds. 
The casing of the high-pressure slide-valve, to which the expansion- 
valve casing is attached, is connected with the low-pressure slide-valve 
casings by four copper pipes, A, A, A, A, which are fitted as shown, and 
through which the steam passes after leaving the high-pressure cylinder. 
These pipes and the passages connected with them form the only steam- 
reservoirs between the cylinders. The surface-condensers are on Hall's 
system, the steam passing through the tubes ; they stand on the side of 
the connecting-shaft opposite to the cylinders, and each condenser is 
connected with its own low-pressure cylinder by an eduction-pipe, through 
which the steam passes on leaving the latter. The Condensers have a total 
number of 7,224 brass tubes, tinned inside and outside, with a total cooling 
surface of 9,500 square feet. The tubes are fitted in the tube-plates with 
screwed glands and stuffing-boxes, and the condensers are so arranged 
that they may be worked as common condensers, if required. The air- 
purnps, double-acting, are two in number, 23 inches in diameter, with a 
stroke of 4 feet, and the circulating water is driven through the condens- 
ers by two centrifugal pumps worked by an independent pair of small 
engines, and the main receiving-pipes to these pumps are fitted with 
branches leading into the bilges of the vessel, so that the pumps may 
become large bilge-pumps in the event of any leak arising in the vessel. 
There is the usual arrangement of feed and bilge pumps fitted on the 
main engines, two of each ; they are of gun-metal, and are 5 inches in 
diameter, with a stroke of 4 feet. In addition to these pumps there 
are two feed auxiliaries, a bilge auxiliary, hand-pump, and fire-engine, 
all fitted in accordance with the admiralty specification. 

The length of the stroke of the main engines is 4 feet, and the 
length of the connecting-rod is twice the length of the stroke. The 
diameter of the connecting-shafts is IS inches, and of the crank-pins 20 
inches. The shaft is made in three pieces, having couplings forged on 
the ends, by which they are bolted securely together. The diameter of 
the line-shafting is 16J inches, and that of the stern-shaft is 18J inches, 
the latter running in the usual lignum-vitce bearings fitted in the stern- 
tube. The screw-propeller is of gun-metal, is on the Hirsch principle, 
has a diameter of 21 feet, and is driven by an ordinary cheese-coupling 
keyed on the stern-shaft, and is fitted to lift in a banjo-frame by means 
of sheer legs and tackles on deck. 

BOILERS. 

The boilers, which are ten in number, stand athwartships in two 
groups. Each group of four and six, respectively, has its own separate 
chimney, fitted on the telescopic principle, and the boilers carry a work- 
ing pressure of 70 pounds to the square inch. They are about 11 feet 
10 inches in diameter, 9 feet G inches long, fitted with brass tubes 3 
inches iu outside diameter, and with wrought-iron stay-tubes. Each 
boiler has two furnaces 3 feet 10 inches in diameter and feet 8 inches 
long. The total heating-surface of the boilers is 12,700 square feet, and 
the grate-bar surface is 510 square feet. 

Among other fittings of the engines it may be mentioned that both 
low-pressure cylinders have separate starting-valves ; a double-beat 
regulator-valve is placed iu the main steam-pipe close to the expansion- 
valve, and beside this a steam-separator. There is also a throttle- 
valve to be used with a Silver's governor. The high pressure piston is 
provided with a 20-inch trunk at the back, which is inclosed in a casing 



142 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

bolted upon the cylinder-cover, and works always upon an adjustable 
composition block ; the latter thus takes the principal weight of the 
piston, by which means it is hoped that excessive wear of the cylinder 
may be prevented. This adjustable block is regulated by set-screws, 
and although at the time when made it was thought to be an improve- 
ment, it has since been found to be a disadvantage, because there is no 
means of ascertaining just how much to raise or lower the piston. The 
starting and reversing gear referred to is simply a vertical steam-cylin- 
der with the necessary valve-gear ; the lower end of its piston-rod is 
connected with the reversing-gear by a link, the upper end of the same 
rod is formed as a very coarsely-pitched screw ; this is so proportioned 
that it does not move of itself when steam is turned on, but is theu 
so far balanced that scarcely an effort is required at the hand-wheels 
(of which two are provided and connected with the piston-rod by bevel- 
gearing) in order to move the reversing-links in either direction. 

The following results were obtained in November, 1875, on the meas- 
ured-mile trial : The mean speed on the six full-power runs was then 
14.533 knots, the mean revolutions being 68.51 ; steam, 68 pounds to 70 
pounds ; vacuum, 27J inches. The mean indicated horse-power on 
these runs was 2,476.6 in the high-pressure cylinder, 1,343.2 in the for- 
ward low-pressure cylinder, and 1,143.7 in the after low-pressure cylin- 
der; the total being thus 4,963.5 indicated horse-power. The mean 
speed on the four half-power runs was 11.714 knots with 54.26 revolu- 
tions, 66 pounds of steam, and 28 inches of vacuum. The indicated 
horse-power was 1,240 in the high-pressure cylinder, 580.6 in the for- 
ward low-pressure cylinder, and 501.7 in the after low-pressure cylinder, 
the total being 2,322.3. The propeller was set at a mean pitch of 24 
feet 11 inches. 

As previously stated, the engines of the Rover are the first of the 
kind put on trial in the royal navy. The most marked feature about 
them is the use of two low-pressure cylinders instead of one. The diam- 
eter of one cylinder, equal in area to the two low-pressure cylinders of 
the Rover, would be nearly 124 J inches. Cylinders of about this size 
have been used in Her Britannic Majesty ? s navy, working with pressures 
greater than those at which the low-pressure cylinder of a compound 
engine works, and they have been used in the merchant service in 
compound engines; but the experience with these large cylinders has 
been very unsatisfactory, consequent upon the number that have been 
cracked by unequal expansion and contraction in these large castings, 
besides which the inconveniences of handling and working with such 
large and heavy parts in the confined space of an engine-room are 
very great. For these reasons the low-pressure cylinders have been 
kept within reasonable limits in all recently-designed engines for the 
naval service. 

THE EITKYALUS. 

The engines and boilers of this ship are similar to those of the Rover 
except that the high-pressure cylinder has a diameter 2 inches greater 
than that of the Rover ; the low-pressures are correspondingly increased 
in diameter, and also the working parts. The power of the boilers is 
also increased by an addition of one furnace in each, thus making 30 
furnaces in the ten boilers, each having a diameter of 3J feet and a 
6-foot length of grate. 

During the time these and the several other sets of three-cylinder 
engines have been building, the subject of the position in which the 
cranks should be set relatively to each other has received considerable 



To i /lust rate Mr. Jennie's /taper on Tnree-throitr crank engines of tke Compoim 
H.B.M.S. Boadicea and Bacchante. 

jr- ■ j Mean, pressure f (9 Tons, 

*' ' acting- at a Tangent of cire/e of £ Feet radius. 




Max. i67Tons. 
Mi n. 6$ " 



© ($ 



,&' 



Max. f90 Tons. 
Min . SS " 



/ 135 / \ 

0- <([ 90' j 

\ 135' \ 



Max. /8S Tons. 
Mm. 6X - 



J3 



\ IZO' \ 



Max. ISO Tons. 
<Mi?i. 9? ' 



\ 90° 



2. 



Tier.' 



Max. /SO Tons. 
Jttin. £J " 



Cur re s no wing' e /tee t of ^Expansion . 
Cut-off. 

MP± StroAe. H.P. i JtroXe. 
-L.T.% ■■ Z.P-& • Max. iSO Tons. 



cMean. -Pressure 
acting at a Tang-en* of a cirete of 
£ Feet radius . 
1/9 Tons . 93 Tons 



xMin.. 4o. 



i 13S° t 

(5 .0 fo" j 



135' 



>' 



Ftir.3. 



H.M.8. 3riton . 

tMean pressure 39 Tons., 
acting- at aThng-ent of a eircie of J '&. 4iia. radius : 
JWax. OOTons. Min.ZSTons. 



95 Me rotations. 



£6.8 t&S. mean, pressure 




8-4/os. mean pressure 



— -o 

So' J 

i 




MODERN UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 143 

attention and discussion. At the fifteenth session of the Institution of 
Naval Architects, Mr. G. B. Eeunie, a distinguished mechanical engi- 
neer and marine-engine builder, read a paper on the subject (to be no- 
ticed directly), and at the last session of the same institution Mr. John 
E. Eavenhill, also well known as a mechanical engineer, made the fol- 
lowing statement: 

In the month of March, 1874, a paper was read l>y Mr. G. B. Rennie, on engines at 
that time under course of construction by his iirm for Her Majesty's steamships 
Boadicea and Bacchante, in which he brought under our notice a series of diagrams 
showing the theoretical force exerted by the three cylinders at all parts of th.3 path of 
the crank-pin's centers, in four different ways of setting the relative angles of the 
cranks, which he described as follows: "No. 1. With equal angles of 120° with each 
other. No. 2. The two low-pressure cranks with 90° between them, and 135° between 
these and the high-pressure crank. No. 3. The low-pressure crauks with the same 
angle between them, but at angles of 150° and 120° with the other one. No. 4. The 
low-pressure crauks placed opposite to each other, and at right angles to the high 
pressure crank." And he proceeded to give his reasons for concluding to adopt the 
position described in No. 4, for the angles of the cranks of the two above-named ships. 
(See Figs. 1 to 4.) In the discussion that followed, I stated that in the three-cylinder 
compound eDgines then making by my late firm for the Rover, I had adopted the plan 
of placing the cranks at equal angles of 120° with each other (see Fig. 1), and promised 
to furnish the institution with the practical result obtained. Recent experience has 
demonstrated most clearly that we have closely approached, if we have not actually 
reached, the point at which the crank-pins of large high-speed engines will work sat- 
isfactorily in consequence of the very limited amount of bearing surface that of neces- 
sity can be allotted to them ; and unless phosphor-bronze should come to the assistance 
of the marine engineers, as white-metal and lignum-vitw did in days gone by, it may be 
necessary to reduce the load on the high-pressure crank-pins. Rather than depart 
from the angle of 120° for my cranks I would alter the multiple of my cylinders, for 
with the three cranks set at equal angles to each other you possess the great practical 
advantage of being able to work on with any two cylinders out of the three, under 
many circumstances, in the event of temporary derangement with the third, an advan- 
tage that might prove to be the salvation of a ship and her crew on a lee shore or in 
the time of war. 

It will be seen that the cranks of the engines of the Rover are set as 
represented by the position at Figure No. 1. The cranks of the engines 
of the Boadicea and the Bacchante are set according to the positions rep- 
resented at No. 4, In the armored ships Alexandra and Dreadnought, 
the position adopted for the engine-cranks is that of No. 2. 

The following is the paper by Mr. Eennie, and the preceding are the 
diagrams produced by him: 

ON THREE-THROW CRANK ENGINES OF THE COMPOUND SYSTEM— HER 
MAJESTY'S SHIPS BOADICEA AND BACCHANTE. 

By G. B. Rennie, Esq,, Member of Council. 

[Read at the fifteenth session of the Institution of Nfaval Architects, 27th March, 1874 j the Right Hon. 
Lord Hampton, G. C. B., D. C. L., president, in the chair.] 

Since I bad the houor of reading a paper before you on tbe subject of compound en- 
gines of Her Majesty's ship Briton, in 1871, tbe system of engine adopted in tbe navy 
has been almost entirely compound, even to tbe largest size. Tbe engines for the ships 
Thetis, Encounter, and A melhyst closely followed those of the Briton, of similar size and 
construction, besides others of the same size and many smaller. All of these were made 
with one high-pressure and one low-pressure cylinder ; but when a much larger power 
thau that developed in the Briton was required, it was considered advisable by Mr. 
"Wright, chief engineer of the admiralty, to have two low-pressure cylinders and one 
high-pressure cylinder, on account of the risk involved in making good castings of tbe 
size of cylindeis that would be required if made with one low-pressure cylinder, 
especially as casualties had taken place in some of the larger cylinders in Her Majesty's 
ships. 

Last year my firm entered into a contract for two sets of compound engines, each 
5,250 horse-power, to be fitted on board Her Majesty's, ships Boadicea and Bacchante ; 
each set of engines has three cylinders, one high-pressure of 73 inches diameter, and 
two low-pressure of 93 inches diameter, the stroke being 4 feet. 



144 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

Wishing to ascertain the most advantageous angles to place the cranks in relation 
to each other, so as to develop the required power with the greatest regularity of mo- 
tion, with the least strain on the shaft, I had some carefully-made diagrams con- 
structed, taking into account the cut-off to which the valves were made to [work], as 
well as making allowance for the capacity of the ports, passages, &c, between one 
cylinder and the other at each successive point of the travel of the pistons. The steam 
being cut off at half -stroke in the high-pressure cylinder by a separate expansion - 
valve, and at three-fifths of the stroke in the two low-pressure cylinders ; the initial 
pressure being 82 pounds, and the back pressure, from imperfect vacuum, at 4 pounds. 
It was impossible to make allowauce for the " wire-drawing" of the steam through 
the ports, pipes, &c, with any degree of accuracy; this, therefore, was not taken into 
account, so that the total horse-power indicated on the diagrams is in excess of that 
which would be actually realized in practice; but as each case is relatively the same 
m this respect, it would not affect the general comparison. 

The diagrams are made for four different positions of cranks : 

No. 1. With equal angles of 120° with each other. 

No. 2. The two low-pressure cranks, with 90° between them, and 135 c between these 
and the high-pressure crank. 

No. 3. The low-pressure cranks, with the same angle between them, but at angles of 
150° and 120° with the other one. 

No. 4. The low-pressure cranks placed opposite to each other, and at right angles to 
the high-pressure crank. 

Having thus ascertained the pressures at different points, in each case, when the 
cranks were placed at the above-named angles, the diagrams of the tangential forces 
were constructed, taking into account the length of the connecting-rod, to be four 
times that of the crank. 

These diagrams show the force exerted by the three cylinders at all parts of the 
path of the crank-pin center; and the greater regularity of the curve, and the near- 
est approach to a straight line, the more uniform the rotation of the shaft and screw- 
propeller. 

It is seen clearly by the diagrams that the most uniform motion is derived by placing 
the cranks at right angles, as in No. 4 ; and the next best position is where the angles 
are equal (No. 1). 

The more uniform motion also gives the least maximum strain on the shaft, and thus 
allowing for the same margin of safety in each case. And, supposing in one case the 
diameter of the shaft to be 18 inches, in the other it would have to be 19| inches diam- 
eter. 

As regards the better propelling-machine, I can fancy there can be little doubt among 
naval engineers that a steady, continuous pressure will be a far better propelling -ma- 
chine than one subject to a series of jumps and variation of strain during the rotation 
of the propeller. 

In order to ascertain the effect of an earlier cut-off than half-stroke, I had a further 
diagram (No. 5) made, supposing the steam cut off at one-third in the small and one- 
half in the large cylinders, but this does not appear to affect the irregularity of the 
motion, but merely shows a gradual depression throughout the circle. How far a 
greater cut-off in the low-pressure cylinders affects the curves I have not yet gone 
into, the engines in question not being fitted with separate expansion-valves on the 
low-pressure cylinders. 

The sixth set of diagrams are those of the Briton, with two cylinders, taken on 
her trial trip, and reduced to a curve, showing the tangential force to turn the shaft 
round. 

From these examples, it seems to me that in compound engines — whether with two 
or three cylinders — the best position to place the cranks, both for uniformity of motion 
as well as strain on the shaft, is where the low-pressure cylinder cranks are placed at 
right angles to the crank of the high-pressure cylinder. 

SMALLER VESSELS. 

There is yet a smaller class of modern corvettes of a type known for 
merly as the Mapicienne, now as the Opal class, that promises perma- 
nence ; it consists of the Opal, Tourmaline, Turquoise, Ruby, Emerald, and 
Garnet. The two first-named were launched in 1875, the next three in 
187G, and the last od June 30, 1877. They have all been completed and are 
in commission except the Garnet, which vessel is just receiving the fin- 
ishing strokes. 

These vessels are of composite build, and, as may be seen from the 
aunexed drawings of one, the Garnet, inspected when in process of 





h 

til 

Z 

< 

CD 

<o| 

21 

DQI 

II 




MODERN UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN: 145 

construction at the Chatham dock-yard, they are of a type desirable to 
possess, having a light draught of water, fair speed, considerable bat- 
tery, full sail-power, and being easily handled. Indeed, they are greatly 
superior to our third rates, especially in strength and durability, there 
being no wooden frames, beams, or knees to rot, and the outside plank- 
ing of the hull being mostly of a material — teak — of great durability ; be- 
sides, very considerable strength of hull is gained by the transverse 
and longitudinal bulkheads, in securely tying the frames and deck-beams 
of the vessel together. 

The iron keel-plate is 30 inches wide by § inch thick, and is continu- 
ous from end to end, turning up at the stem and stern and extending to 
the bowsprit forward and to the main deck aft. The keelson is intercos- 
tal, 24 inches deep, and is seeured to the flat plate-keel by angle-irons 3 
by 3 inches and J inch thick. The intercostal plates extend above the 
floors 3 inches, and are fastened to each other and to the reverse frames 
by double angle-irons from end to end of the vessel. There is a wood 
keel of English oak secured to the flat keel-plate by malleable bolts, also 
a false keel of oak 4 inches thick. To the iron stem there is secured first a 
course of teak, then a course of elm. This wood stem is molded 24 inches 
inside of the rabbet and sided 12 inches. The stern-posts are of teak and 
oak, and the two are connected together by a composition shoe. The 
rudder is of wood cased with brass in the usual way. The bottom of 
the vessel under the engines and boilers is strengthened by two intercos- 
tal longitudinals on each side, composed of plates 3 inches by T 7 g inch, 
connected to each other and to the reverse angle-irons of the floors ; in 
the wake of these and connected to the intercostal plates are additional 
plates. The frames of the vessels are spaced 20 inches from center to 
center, and are composed of angle-irons 9 inches by 3^ inches and T 7 g inch 
thick, and 3 inches by 3 inches by ^ inch thick; the former extend to 
the rails and the latter are continuous from bilge to bilge. The beams 
are of bulb T-iron with knees welded on; those of the gun-deck are 9 
inches deep by T 9 ¥ thick ; those of the berth-deck are 7 inches deep, and at 
the poop and forecastle they are 5 inches deep. The transverse water- 
tight bulkheads are seven in number; they are T \ iuch thick at the 
bottom, g- inch at the top, are stiffened by angle-irons, and they extend 
from the floor to the gun-deck, thus tying the bottom, sides, and decks 
of the vessel together, and thereby adding strength to the hull aud a rigid 
foundation for the machinery. Each bulkhead is provided with a water- 
tight door that can be opened and shut from the deck. The coal-bunker 
bulkheads are also water-tight; and fitted with water-tight doors; all 
other bulkheads are of the usual kind. The deck-stanchions are 
wrought-iron tubes with solid heads and feet welded on. Stringer-plates 
are riveted over the ends of the deck-beams ; those of the poop and fore- 
castle are 15 inches wide and secured to the sheer-strake by angle-irons ; 
on the gun-deck the width is 3G inches by -g inch thick, and they are 
secured in a similar manner to the gunwale sheer-strake; on the berth- 
deck the stringer-plate is 28 inches wide and secured to the outside 
iron strake by angle-irons. The deck-planks are of Dantzic oak 4 inches 
and 2 inches in thickness, and fastened to the beams by galvanized 
iron bolts having nuts on the points under the decks. On each side 
of the vessel just forward of the poop and partly projecting over the 
sides, there is an iron pilot-house % inch in thickness, intended to pro- 
tect the commanding officer from rifle bullets. The method of applying 
the outside planks to the iron hull will be noticed farther on. 

The lower masts are of iron, the topmasts and yards are of wood; the 
main, fore, and mizzen masts have lengths and diameters respectively 
10 K 



146 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

53 feet by 22 inched, 49 feet 6 inches by 22 inches, and 43 feet by 15 
inches. 

The Garnet carries one steam-cutter 28 feet long by 7 feet 3 inches 
wide, and six other boats. 

The principal dimensions of the Garnet and class are : length between 
perpendiculars 220 feet, breadth 40 feet, draught of water forward 15 feet 
6 inches, aft 17 feet, and the displacement 1,864 tons. They are fully 
rigged as sailing-vessels, spread about 13,228 square feet of canvas, and 
are fitted with lifting screw-propellers. 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The engines, in common with those of all other cruisers of late design, 
are of the compound type. They are not from the same patterns for 
each vessel, yet it is scarcely necessary to give more than the general 
dimensions of those for the Garnet, as specified by the admiralty. They 
are as follows : one pair of horizontal engines, the diameter of the high- 
pressure of which is 57 inches, and of the low-pressure 90 inches; the 
length of the stroke is 2 feet 9 inches, and the maximum revolutions per 
minute about 90. The high-pressure-cylinder face is made separately of 
phosphor-bronze, secured to the cylinder with brass screws. The diam- 
eter of the crankshaft and crank-pin bearings is 13 inches; the aggre- 
gate length of the former bearings is 7 feet 6 inches, and that of each 
crank-pin 13 inches. The diameter of the propeller-shaft is 12 inches, 
and the section which passes through the tube is 13J inches in diameter. 
The screw-propeller is 15 feet in diameter, and has a pitch of 15 feet 6 
inches. The boilers, six in number, 10 feet in diameter and 9 feet long, 
are cylindrical, with horizontal tubes, and the pressure of steam 60 
pounds per square inch. The grate-surface is 245 square feet. The in- 
dicated horse-power on the measured mile is to be 2,100, and the maxi- 
mum speed with this power is estimated at 13 knots. The space occupied 
in the length of the vessel by machinery and coal is: for the engines, 26 
feet 8 inches ; for the boilers, 33 feet 4 inches ; passage between engines 
and boilers, 30 feet ; coal-space forward of boilers, 6 feet 8 inches ; total, 
96 feet by the whole width of the vessel. 

The armament consists of fourteen 64-pounder guns, one of which is a 
bow-chaser, working under cover of a forecastle, and another is a stern- 
chaser, under a poop ; the remainder of the guns are uncovered. 

SLOOPS. 

These vessels, of modern date, are also of composite build ; they are 
rated next after corvettes, and may be divided into two classes. Those 
of the first class consist of the Wild Swan and Penguin, launched in 1876, 
the Osprey and Pelican, in 1877, completed and in commission ; also the 
Cormorant, Pegasus, Dragon, and Gannet, not yet completed. This class 
have a displacement of 1,124 tons. The length between perpendiculars 
is 170 feet, the breadth, extreme, is 36 feet, the draught of water for- 
ward is 13 feet, and aft, 16 feet, and the midship section 389 square feet. 
They are bark-rigged, and spread 10,138 square feet of canvas. The 
cylinders have diameters of 38 and (j(5 inches, with a stroke of 2 feet. 
The propeller has a diameter of 13 feet and a pitch of 12 feet 6 inches. 
The estimated revolutions are 100. There are three cylindrical boilers, 7 
feet 10 inches in diameter and 15 feet long ; six furnaces with a total grate 
surface of 108 square feet. The coal-bunkers have a capacity of 150 tons, 
the daily consumption being 22 tons. They carry four guns on the broad- 



MODERN UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 147 

side and two bow or stern chasers. The estimated* cost of the hull, &c, 
is $169,891, and of the machinery $50,787, in gold. The second class 
are all completed and in commission, and consist of the Daring, Alba- 
tross, Flying Fish, Egeria, Fantome, and Sappho. These have a displace- 
ment of 894 tons ; the length between perpendiculars is 160 feet ; breadth, 
extreme, 31 feet 4 inches; draught of water forward, 12 feet; aft, 14 
feet; the average indicated horse-power being 900 and the number of 
guns foofr, two of which are chasers. Total cost of hull and machinery, 
$171,558 in gold. 

A still smaller class, rated according to Parliamentary returns as 
sloops, and on the navy list as gun-vessels, consists of the Arab and 
Lily, both in commission. They are each of 700 tons displacement, 
with a length of 150 feet; breadth 28 feet 6 inches, and draught of wa- 
ter forward 10 feet, and aft 12 feet; the indicated horse-power being 
respectively 656 and 829. Also of the Flamingo, Condor, Griffon, and 
Falcon, completed in 1877. These last named have a displacement of 
774 tons; length, 150 feet; breadth, 29 feet: draught forward, 11 feet; 
aft, 13 feet ; and the indicated horse-power is to be 750. Total cost of 
hull and machinery, $160,380 in gold. 

All of these vessels, as well as all other classes of recent construction, 
are engined on the compound system. The largest of these sloops, i. e., 
those having a displacement of 1,124 tons, are fitted with engines capa- 
ble of developing an indicated horse-power of 900 on the measured-mile 
trials. The diameter of the high-pressure cylinder is 38 inches, of the 
low-pressure cylinder 66 inches, and the stroke of piston 2 feet. The 
maximum revolutions are to be 100 per minute, and the speed under 
steam, in smooth water, between 9 and 10 knots per hour. The steam is 
supplied by cylindrical boilers, and the pressure is to be 60 pounds per 
square inch. The screw-propeller is 13 feet in diameter, and 1 ike those 
of other cruising- vessels it is two-bladed and lifting. Anew arrange- 
ment for feathering the blades, patented by Mr. R. R. Bevis, has been 
fitted to the Griffon and Falcon, which, it is said, is not open to the ob- 
jections made to feathering screws previously tried. The levers and 
other gear for moving the blades are inclosed in the boss of the propel- 
ler, are attached to a rod passing through the center of the shaft, and 
are worked in the screw-shaft tunnel. During the trials of one of these 
vessels the gear was put into requisition, as after completing one series of 
runs it was considered desirable to alter the pitch of the screw, which was 
done in the course of a few minutes, when she was again put on the 
mile to complete another series; this operation, with the ordinary lift- 
ing screw, would have involved considerable delay, or, if not fitted with 
lifting gear, would have necessitated putting the vessel into dry-dock. 

These two are the only vessels in the royal navy actually at work 
with this gear, but the Garnet and the Cormorant are now being fitted 
with it. The same arrangement of gear has been fitted in ships belong- 
ing to several other governments, and in a large number of yachts, nota- 
bly to Mr. Brassey-s Sunbeam, which has recently circumnavigated the 
globe in forty-six weeks, sailing or steaming at intervals as circum- 
stances required, during which time this feathering arrangement was 
found to be useful and handy, and is reported as successful, and as not 
haviug been out of order. 

All the sloops mentioned are fully rigged as cruisers, and are intended 
to keep the sea under sail. The Arab class are also three-masted ; they 
are square-rigged on the mainmast as well as on the foremast. 

There is also a large number of what is known as composite gun-ves- 
sels fitted as cruisers, of which the Coquette class are the smallest sea- 



148 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

going vessels iii the British navy. The displacement of this class is 430 
tons ; the length is 125 feet; breadth, extreme, 23 feet 6 inches ; draught 
forward, 8 feet ; aft, 10 feet. They also have lifting screws, are three- 
masted and square-rigged on the foremast only. The armament con- 
sists of two 64 and two 20 pounder rifles.* The speed under steam is 
only about 8 knots in smooth water at the best, but under favorable 
conditions of wind and weather a run of twenty-four hours can be made 
with 3 tons of coal. 

In addition to the composite gun- vessels and gunboats, there is a large 
number of iron double-screw gunboats, ten of which were building by 
the Palmer Ship-Building Company at Jarrow-on-Tyne at the time of 
my visit to that place in 1876. These vessels have a displacement of 
363 tons ; the indicated horse-power is to be 310, and the number of 
guns three. Quite a number are of still smaller size, and some of them 
are fitted to carry a single gun mounted on a rising and lowering plat- 
form forward, so arranged that the gun can be lowered into the hold 
when the vessel goes to sea. 

This peculiar type of vessel was iaveuted by Mr. Rendel, the 
Staunch, built in 1867, being the original. She cost $64,481 in gold. 
Since then about thirty have been added to the navy. 

Becently, Sir W. Armstrong & Co. have been constructing four gun- 
boats for the Chinese government, in which several important improve- 
ments over the Staunch type have been introduced. Two of these 
boats, each mounting a 26J-tou gun, have already been delivered at 
Tientsin, and two others, each mounting a 38-ton gun, are probably by 
this time completed and ready to sail for China. 

These last two little vessels, built of iron, measure 126 feet over all; 
their extreme breadth is 30 feet ; draught of water 8 feet, and displace- 
ment 430 tons. They are schooner rigged, with tripod-masts ; carry 50 
tons of coal, 50 rounds of ammunition, and, in addition to the heavy 
gun, they carry two 12-pounders and a Gatling guu. They are pro- 
pelled by twin screws, and are intended to have a speed of 9 knots. 

The main peculiarities consist in the great gun mounted on so small 
a vessel, and the system of working it ; the piece being much heavier 
than those used in the English boats, and the little vessel is herself 
made to act as the gun-carriage. The gun is worked by hydraulic 
power, and the entire arrangement of the mechanism is similar to that 
employed in working the 100-ton gun at Spezia, to be noticed hereafter. 
Two heavy iron beams in the fore part of the vessel are placed side by 
side on a level with the deck and parallel with the keel ; on these beams 
are bolted frames analogous to the cross-head guides of a horizontal 
engine, and the trunnions of the gun are fitted in slide-blocks, these last 
taking the place of the cross-head. Thus arranged, the gun can slide 
back and forth through a range of about 3 feet. The preponderance at 
the breech-end is supported by two secondary parallel bars inside the 
main gun-beams. These are hinged at the rear end, while at the for- 
ward end they are carried on the cross-head of a vertical hydraulic ram 
fixed beneath the deck. The breech-end of the gun is supplied with a 
hoop and lugs ; the lugs rest on the two secondary bars near their hiuged 
ends, and thus, by causing the hydraulic ram to rise or fall, the gun can 
be elevated or depressed at will. No turning- gear is provided, the lat- 
eral training of the gun being effected by turning the whole boat through 

* One feature to b3 noticed is that the bows and sterns of all recentlv-built British 
unarmored vessels are constructed so as to carry gnos for fore-and-aft fire on the line 
of the keel : a second is, that the cabiu accommodations are made secondary to the work- 
ing of the guns. 



MODERN UNARMORED SHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 149 

the required arc by the use of the rudder and twiu screws. To run the 
gun in and out, two hydraulic cylinders are used, one of which is fixed 
horizontally on each side-beam, the cross-heads of the rams taking hold 
of the trunnion slide-blocks. The recoil is taken up by these rains, or 
more properly pistons, delivering water under a weighted valve. 

The gun is loaded by a hydraulic rammer, the shot being brought to 
the muzzle by a trolley or carriage, off which it is pushed into the bore. 

Duriug the trials of the Gamma, one of the vessels just tested, the 
38-ton gun was fired with charges consisting of 130 pounds of powder 
behind an 800-pound projectile, the elevation being 3J degrees. 

These boats are regarded as the nucleus of a Chinese hornet-fleet, which 
fleet, if properly manned, will no doubt give a deal of trouble to Japan 
or any other country which may dare to invade the sanctity of Celes- 
tial waters. ExtravagaDt estimates of their merits have, however, been 
formed, and some of the English papers have been urging the adoption 
of the type into the British navy. They are a great improvement on 
the Euglish boats, but not free from objections, one of which is the want 
of lateral movement of the gun without moving the vessel, especially in 
rivers, where such craft would otherwise be particularly serviceable ; 
and in order that they may operate with maximum efficiency the water 
must be tolerably smooth ; and at such a time it would not be difficult 
to hit one of them by a shot from the small rifled guns carried by 
armored ships and send her to the bottom. Therefore, except under 
peculiar circumstances, they are useful for defensive purposes only, and 
service on board of them must in mauy cases during war be attended 
with extreme risk. 

THE COMPOSITE SYSTEM. 

All the modern cruising- vessels of the British navy (unarmored), below 
the rate of the Active, are now built on the composite system. In this 
method of construction the frame-work inside of the skin, including 
frames, beams, keelsons, stringers, shelf-pieces, water-ways, transoms, 
bulkheads, &c, are of iron, and arranged nearly as they would be in an 
ordinary iron-built ship, the frames and beams being of the same kind 
and dimensions and spaced the same distances apart, with bulkheads of 
the usual number and construction. The keel, stem, outside planking, 
and decks are of wood. The planks are put on in two courses laid fore 
and aft. The first course is secured to the iron frames by |-inch Muntz's- 
metal bolts tapped into the iron, having also lock-nuts on the points 
inside. The bolts have screw-driver heads, and are screwed home against 
a shoulder so as to leave the head below the surface of the plank, the 
cavity over the head of the bolt being filled with white and red lead so 
as to prevent leakage. The planks on both sides, as well as the iron, 
are carefully painted; after the first course of planks has been care- 
fully calked between the joints with oakum, the second course is laid 
on it, breaking joints with the planks of the first course. The planks 
of this second course are fastened to those of the first course by copper 
bolts driven through both thicknesses, and riveted inside the vessel. 
The joints between the planks of the last course are then likewise 
calked, and the surface below water coppered over. The kind of wood 
used is teak ; the thickness of the first course of planks is about 3J 
inches, and of tue second course about 3 inches ; the width is about 12 
inches, and there are two bolts to every frame through each plank of 
the first course. The work is required to be carefully done, and special 
attention is directed to see that the iron is completely insulated or cut 



150 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

off from electrical communication with the copper sheathing and bolts 
used in the structure. 

In this system of ship-construction the same strength of hull is not 
expected to be attained as when the hull is composed entirely of iron, 
having each skin-plate riveted to the next, also to the frames and the 
bottom, and decks tied together by bulkheads; the constructors em- 
ployed in building them, however, estimate the strength of one of these 
well-built composite vessels to be from 40 to 50 per cent, greater than 
the strength of a wood-built vessel of the same dimensions, besides 
which the durability is infinitely greater, for there is no wear-out of the 
interior parts, and the skins are of teak, which possesses durability 
equal to our live-oak. 



ip^ie^t :x 



CRUISERS OF THE RAPID TYPE, THE IRIS AND MERCURY; 
STEEL CORVETTES; MATERIALS FOR SHIPS OF WAR; 
TABLE OF COST OF REPAIRS FOR A FEW UNITED 
STATES VESSELS OF WOOD IN FIVE YEARS 
UNDER A SINGLE BUREAU; SHIPS OF 
THE MERCANTILE MARINE SUIT- 
ABLE FOR WAR PURPOSES. 



151 



THE IRIS AND MERCURY. 



These two sister ships, put afloat at the Pembroke dock yard last 
year, aad to be completed early in 187S, are built of steel, and are 
termed armed steel dispatch-vessels. They are the first of a new type 
designed for high speed as the pre eminent requisite; all other require- 
ments are subordinated to this important element. 

The model from which they have* been built presents a beautiful, 
sharp bow ; a long, exceptionally clean run, and altogether exquisitely 
fine lines for a swift and lightly-sparred vessel. 

The principal dimensions and other data of the Iris are : 

Ship: 

Length bet ween perpendiculars 300 feet. 

Breadth, extreme „ 46 feet. 

Depth of hold to top of double bottom 16 feet 3 inches. 

Draught of water, forward 17 feet 6 inches. 

Draught of water, aft 22 feet. 

Area of midship section 777 square feet. 

Displacement 3, 735 tons, 

Speed per hour, maxim urn 164- knots. 

Estimated cost of hull (gold) $437, 400 

Engines : 
Two four-cylinder horizontal compound engines. 

Diameter of high-pressure cylinders 41 inches. 

Diameter of low-pressure cylinders 75 inches. 

Stroke of pistons 3 feet. 

Revolutions, per minute 95 

Indicated horse-power ( contract) 7, 000 

Diameter of crank-shaft 16^ inches. 

Number of screws 2 

Diameter of screws , 18 feet 6 inches. 

Pitch of screws, alterable, now fixed at 17 feet 6 inches. 

Boilers : 

nu^ of ^^\^^^ :: ; ::: :: ;■;---■; - \\u 

Total grate surface 700 square feet. 

Total heating surface 15, 960 square feet. 

Total weight of machinery, including water in boilers and con- 
densers, about 1 , 000 tons. 

Estimated cost of machinery (gold) $451, 980 

Total cost of hull and machinery, estimated $889, 380 

(Both estimates as to cost will be exceeded.) 
Armament : 

Ten 64-pounder rifled guns ; four on either side, and two revolving, the latter being 
mounted on the poop and forecastle. 

The official trial test of six hours' duration was made December 14, 
1877, and the results obtained were as follows: The engines maintained 
a noteworthy uniformity in the vacuum and the number of revolutions ; 
the starboard engines made 91, and the port engines 89J, revolutions 
per minute ; the mean vacuum in the after condenser was" 28.33 inches, 
the vacuum in the forward condenser remaining at 28 inches throughout 
the day. The mean pressure in the boilers was 62 pounds ; in the high- 
pressure cylinders 41.29 pounds, and in the low-pressure cylinders 11.24 
pounds ; the mean total horse-power developed being 7,088.5. The 
speed of the ship, as recorded by the electric log and confirmed by cross- 
bearings, was 1G knots per hour. The consumption of coal during the 
trial amounted to 2.7 pounds per indicated horse-power per hour, no 
attempt, however, being made to economize fuel. Although the horse- 

15:5 



154 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

power developed was 88J beyond the contract, the speed realized fell 
one knot short of the estimate of the admiralty. 

Viewing the Iris with the frames in place and the bottoms plated, the 
scantlings appeared very light. To strengthen the ship as much as pos- 
sible, and to compensate for her extreme lightness of build, the perpen- 
dicular frames are only 3 feet 6 inches apart, and they are crossed by 
longitudinal Z -shaped girders, thereby leaving no part of the ship's side 
more than 4 feet square without support. The thickness of the plates 
below the gun-deck is £ inch, garboard strakes excepted, which are f 
inch. Above the deck the plates are f inch. The joints are double- 
riveted, and the rivets used are of wrought iron f inch in diameter. 

The ship is divided into twelve water-tight compartments by eleven 
transverse bulkheads, and water-tight iron flats are built in the three 
foremost and four aftermost compartments below the lower deck, there- 
by confining the water which might come into one compartment to its 
bottom, that is, between the bottom of the ship and the flat so built and 
described. These water-tight flats are also built on each side of the ship 
in the coal-bunkers, which are connected by small water-tight sliding 
doers. The ship has an inner and outer bottom for the distance occu- 
pied by the engines and boilers, the space between the two skins being 
about 4 feet in the middle of its length with reduced depth toward either 
end. The transverse bulkheads referred to, by which the bottoms and 
decks are tied together, add strength and stiffness to the hull, but the 
limited beam — 46 feet — has prohibited the introduction of the central 
longitudinal bulkhead, extending from stem to stern, a backbone of 
strength so important for a vessel comparatively light-built and intended 
to sustain the great strain of her immense engine-power. 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The chief requirement sought is great speed ; to obtain this, engines 
guaranteed to develop 7,000 indicated horse-power have been placed in 
the ship, which, compared with the displacement, 3,735 tons, gives 1.87 
horse-power per ton — a higher proportion of power than is possessed by 
any naval ship afloat. The space occupied by the engines, boilers, and 
coal is the whole width of the vessel and 150 feet fore and aft, just one- 
half of the length of the vessel in the most important part. The machin- 
ery was constructed by Messrs. Maudslay, Sons & Field. The ship is 
propelled by twin screws, each screw being worked by one pair of two- 
cylinder compound engines, laid horizontally, making eight cylinders in 
all, four high and four low pressure. Each high-pressure cylinder is 
secured to the front of the low-pressure cylinder with which it works, 
and is partly recessed into it to save length, and one piston-rod carries 
both the high and low pressure pistons. The piston-rod is connected to 
a wrought-iron cross-head, which works on guide-rods forming the con- 
nection between the main crank-shaft bearings and the cylinder, to each 
of which they are bolted by T-ends. The high -pressure cylinders are lined 
with working barrels of Whitworth steel. The air-pumps are vertical, 
and are worked from the low-pressure pistons by means of bell-crank 
levers. The surface-condensers are of the usual variety used in the 
royal navy, and have about 14,000 square feet of cooling surface. The 
crank-shafts are of wrought iron, and have a diameter of 16J inches at 
the bearings. The propeller-shafts (aftermost lengths excepted) are of 
Whitworth compressed steel, with solid couplings; their diameters are 
11J inches inside and 17 inches outside. A considerable length of the 
screw-propeller-shafts extends outside of the vessel; this is of wrought 
iron, solid, and 16J inches in diameter. Lignumvitw is used at both ends 
of the stein-tubes, as well as in the tubes through which the shafts are 



THE IRIS AND MERCURY. 155 

worked. Tbere are also annular thrust-rings with Ugmim-vitw facings fit- 
ted at the after ends of the stern-tubes to assist in taking the thrust of 
the screws. The screw-propellers are each 18 feet 6 inches in diameter, 
and in common with other twin screws they revolve outward when going 
ahead. 

Boilers. — The boilers have been made of the same material — Landore 
steel — as the hull of the ship, and, compared with the use of iron, it ef- 
fects a considerable saving in weight, even if it were not a much better 
material for their construction. They are twelve in number, placed in 
two separate water-tight compartments, six boilers in each compartment, 
so that if one set of boilers should become useless, by reason of the com- 
partment being flooded, the engines can be operated by steam from the 
other set, and with this contingency in view the steam-pipes connecting 
the boilers with the engines have an outer metal covering to prevent 
condensation of the steam within them in the event of being surrounded 
with water. There are, also, two separate engine-rooms. The boilers 
differ in dimensions, on account of the varying shape of the ship ; eight 
of them are elliptical and four cylindrical. 

The coal-carrying capacity is estimated at 500 tons in her ordinary 
bunkers, and 250 tons in the midship reserve bunkers, which total 
amount, calculated roughly, is intended to carry her through five days 7 
full steaming, or to enable her to steam 6,200 miles, at the rate of 10 
knots per hour, or 8,600 miles, at 8 knots per hour. 

One important feature introduced in this vessel, also into several other 
recently-constructed ships, and comforting to many officers, is an ar- 
rangement for working the steam at the low pressure of four pounds per 
square inch, when going into action, if so desired. 

The system of pumps and fire-mains is arranged by having one large 
main running the length of the ship, from fore compartment to after 
compartment, and the whole being connected with two 40 horse-power 
engines, one in each engine-room, and with six 9 inch pumps which can 
be worked either below or on deck. 

The steering is performed by the ordinary wheel, fitted with Kapson's 
patent connecting-gear and Frayne's patent brake, for use in turning at 
a high rate of speed or in heavy weather. 

The wardroom and the cabins of the captain and wardroom officers 
are all under the poop, in the front of which is a water-tight bulkhead 
reaching to the ship's bottom. The engineers' berths and the warrant 
officers' cabins and mess-place are all on the lower deck, aft ; and the 
sick-bay, dispensary, and engine-room artificers' berths are also on the 
same deck, one compartment further forward. The magazines, shell- 
rooms, and store-rooms are on the iron flat below the lower deck. The 
whole of the lower deck forward is devoted to quarters for the men. 
The forecastle is fitted up for supernumeraries, the after part being closed 
in by a water-tight bulkhead extending from the bottom of the ship up 
to it. 

The ventilation of the magazines and decks is effected by means of 
air-pumps. 

The Iris is three-masted, lightly sparred, and bark-rigged. The 
armament is also necessarily light, consisting as it does of ten 01-pounder 
rifles, one at the bow and one astern, with fore-and-aft fire, and eight 
broadside-guns. Provision is also made for using the Whitehead and 
other torpedoes. The crew will consist of 250 officers and men. 

The engine power of the Iris is considerably more than was ever put 
into a naval hull of her dimensions, and while no doubts exist as to the 
speed being eventually obtained, it will remain to be seen whether the 



15G 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



hull is sufficient in strength to sustain for a lengthened time the im- 
mense strain of 7,000 horse-power. 

The Iris and Mercury are the first war- vessels constructed of' steel. 
The stems, stern-posts, and keels are of wrought iron, otherwise the 
halls, including frames, beams, platiug, bulkheads, &c, are built wholly 
of Landore steel. 

In consideration of the uncertainty in regard to steel, hitherto em- 
ployed in large quantities for ship construction, unusual care was exer- 
cised in the selection of the works to manufacture it. Some months 
were devoted to testing specimens of steel supplied by the most eminent 
firms of the kingdom before the decision was arrived at, which resulted 
in giving the contract to the Landore Steel Company, of South Wales, 
some forty or fifty miles distant from the dock-yard. This company has 
the contract for the whole supply, under very rigid requirements. The 
steel is made according to the Siemens process. Its chief characteristics, 
and those which give it its special value for ship building purposes, are 
its extreme ductility when cold, its ability to stand punching without 
appreciable loss of strength between the rivet-holes, its not requiring to 
be annealed after shearing or punching, its having a smoother surface 
than iron, its capability of being easily forged and worked hot, its uni- 
formity of quality being absolutely insured and its strength along the 
grain. The most remarkable point about this steel is the fact that 
punching produces scarcely any injury to the material in the neighbor- 
hood of the hole, and that annealing the plates and angles after punch- 
ing and shearing is not necessary; without this quality, which has not 
been hitherto obtained, steel cannot possibly make headway with ship- 
builders, for annealing cannot be intrusted to an ordinary ship-building 
yard. Therefore, where the problem is to combine the greatest speed 
of vessel with the smallest dimensions, Landore steel is a material 
admirably suited for the purpose. It is stronger than iron by from 25 to 
30 per cent., and equal in ductility to iron of the best quality. The re- 
quirements of the admiralty as to the materials supplied under their 
contract with the Landore Steel Company are as follows : 

From every plate made a strip is to be cut, which, after being heated to a " cherry- 
red" color, shall be plunged into water having a temperature of 82° Fahrenheit. After 
being thus cooled, the strip is to be bent, without fracture, until the radius of the 
inner curve equals not more than 1| times the thickness of the strip. This is known 
as the " tempering test." Further, from each lot of 50 plates or angles a piece is to be 
taken, and the edges having been planed parallel, its tensile strength is to be proved. 
To be satisfactory, this must not exceed 30 tons nor be less than 26 tons on the square 
inch, and before fracture takes place there must be an elongation of not less than 20 
per cent, on 8 inches of its original length. These tests are applied in the presence of 
a resident representative of the government. * 

Up to April [1876], 101 samples, representing over 5,000 plates or angles, have been 
subjected to the tensile test, with the following results : 



Number of test 
pieces. 


Breaking strain in tons 
per square inch. 


Average elongation 
in 8 inches. 


1 

20 
24 
26 
24 
2 
2 


25 to 26 

26 to 27 

27 to 28 

28 to 29 

29 to 30 

30 to 31 
31 


Inchea. 
2.00 
2.00 
2.03 
1.93 
1.89 
1.96 
1.78 


101 


Mean, 28. 16 tons. 


1. 94 inches, or 24. 25 
per cent. 



THE IRIS AND MERCURY. 



157 



* * * The tensile strenth of best best irou is 22 tons when tested with the grain 
and 18 tons when tested crosswise. In certain experiments by Mr. Kirkaldy on two 
very fine plates manufactured at Borsig's Works, Berlin, and, I believe, stated to be 
homogeneous, the tensile strength was found to be lengthwise 23.84 tons, and cross- 
wise 22.6 tons. When similarly tested the Landore steel gave lengthwise 28.85 tons, 
crosswise 28 .2 tons ; the comparison, therefore, stands thus : 



Lengthwise 

Crosswise 

Difference 



B. B. iron. 



Tom. 
22 
13 



Borsig's plates. 



4 tons, or 18. 18 
per cent. 



Tom. 
23. 84 
22. 60 



Landore plates. 



Tons. 
28.85 
28. 20 



1. 24 tons, or 5. 20 
per cent. 



. 65 tons, or 2. 59 
per cent. 



Therefore, taking the lowest tensile strength of best best iron and of Landore steer 
there is a difference in favor of the latter of 10.20 tons, or the Landore steel is 56.6 pe 
cent, stronger than the best best iron. 

I was granted the i^rivilege of inspecting the tested specimens at the Pembroke dock- 
yard. For convenience they are divided into cold tests and hot-forge tests, as follows 

COLD TESTS. 

(1) A piece of 6-inch by 3-inch by -y^-inch angle, with the corner bent over and flat- 
tened close by blows from a 40-cwt. steam-hammer. No fracture. 

(2) A piece of 3-inch by 3-inch by f-inch angle, 1 foot long, flattened out by two blows 
of steam-hammer. No fracture. 

(3) A piece of 3-inch by 3-inch by f-inch angle, 1 foot long, closed by two blows of 
steam-hammer. No fracture. 

(4) A piece of 3-inch by 3-inch by f-inch angle, 1 foot long, flattened out same as No. 
2, after which the wings were turned back over the outside angle. Slight fracture 
at the ends only. 

(5) A piece of 3-inch by 3-inch by f inch angle, 18 inches long. After being flattened 
out as in the previous cases, the two ends were turned over in opposite directions ; the 
piece was then doubled up in the middle, and closed by hard blows from a steam-ham- 
mer. There is no fracture, but there are cuts from the hammer-tool in one place, and 
from its own angle in another. 

(6) A piece of 3-inch by 3-inch by finch angle, 18 inches long, dealt with as in the 
specimen last mentioued, except that before bending one end over, the wings were 
bent back as in No. 4. There is a slight fracture, as shown, caused by its own angle. 

(7) A piece of g- inch square bar, formed into a knot, occupying only 4} inches by 3 
inches space. No fracture. 

(8) A piece of f-inch round bar, formed into a knot, occupying only 3 inches by 2 
inches space. 

(9) A piece of |-inch round bar, formed into a knot, occupying 2£ inches by 1^ inches. 
This is a very fine specimen. 

(10) A ring 5 inches in diameter, made from two pieces of plate welded together, 
and closed by blows from a sledge-hammer. No fracture. 

(11) A similar ring made from Lowmoor iron, closed by one blow from a 60-cwt. 
steam-hammer. There are slight fractures where bent, as shown. 

(12) A similar ring, made from Landore steel, and closed in the same manner. Frac- 
tured in the weld, as shown. 

(13) Apiece of \ -inch steel plate, 12 inches diameter, dished to 3£ inches deep by 
live blows from a 60-cwt. steam-hammer. Without fracture. 

A piece of steel flora an eminent firm, similarly treated, broke into three pieces at 
the fifth blow. 

(14) A piece of 6-inch by 3-inch by ^V-inch angle, had the wings closed in, as shown ; 
it was then placed edgewise, on bearings •") feet apart, and bent by hydraulic pressure; 
to a deflection of 12£ inches. A piece of best angle-iron, similarly treated, broke at a 
d( (lection of 6 inches. 

(15) A piece of plate, 3 feet by 3 feet by | inch, had an iron block placed under each 
corner, 9 inches from the edge, and an iron ball weighing 1,291 pounds was dropped 
on the center from a height of 30 feet. Bent, as shown, without a sign of fracture. 

(16) A piece of steel, from an eminent linn, similarly treated, was bent and fractured 
as shown. 

(17) A piece of best best iron, similarly treated, was bent and fractured as shown. 

(18) A beam piece, 4 feet <> inches long, made of /'.--inch plate, 5 inches deep, with 



158 

double angles 2£ inches by 2£ inches by ? s inch on the upper and lower edges, riveted 
together with f -inch rivets (3-J- diameters apart), was bent under hydraulic pressure to 
the form shown, without fracture, when the fixings failed. It was removed before the 
test could be completed. ' 

(19) A piece off-inch plate, 12 inches diameter, forced by hydraulic pressure through 
a ring 10 inches diameter, and dished to the form shown, that is, 3£ inches deep, by a 
pressure of 145| tons, without fracture. 

(20) A piece of f-inch plate rested during experiment upon a perfectly horizontal 
surface of an annular iron anvil, a central circular portion of the plate, 12 inches in 
diameter, being unsupported. The anvil was firmly imbedded in the ground. A charge 
of 18 ounces of compressed gun-cotton was suspended over the center of the plate, an 
air-space of three inches intervening between the upper surface of the plate and the 
base of the charge. The charge was exploded by detonation. 

The result is that the plate is dished down to the extent of 1£ inches, but there is no 
sign of fracture. l 

(20a) A piece of f-inch best best iron, similarly tested, is almost shattered to pieces. 

(21) A piece of plate \l~ inch thick, supported on anvil as above. Charge of gun- 
cotton 10 ounces, and 3 inches in diameter, placed upon the upper surface of the plate 
in a central position, and exploded by detonation. 

The result is that a hole 1^ inches diameter is made in the center of the plate, and 
that for f inch all round this hole the plate is beautifully cupped or countersunk, as if 
it had been done by a cutting-tool. There are no laterai fractures in the plate. 

(21a) A piece of best best iron plate xi inch thick, similarly treated, was fractured as 
shown. 

(22) A piece of plate doubled close up fourfold, as shown, without fracture. 

* * * * *■ # * 

HOT FORGE TESTS. 

(1) A piece of |-inch plate subjected to the ram's-horn test, the lower end being 
doubled close while cold, without fracture. 

(2) Shearings of -i-inch plate about 1| inches wide, welded together and bent in the 
weld to a radius of f inch, without fracture. 

(3) Two pieces of plate welded together and bent in the parts welded, one to an 
angle of 90 c , and the other to an angle of 105°, without fracture. 

(4) A box-end made from |-inch plate to form angle-steel, 3 inches by 31 inches by 
j inch. It is soundly welded, and is in every respect as sound as one made from angle- 
iron. 

(5) An intercostal, made from £ inch plate, to form angle-steel, 31 inches by 3 inches 
by £ inch, soundly welded, and considered a good job. 

(6) An outside corner, made from ^-inch plate, to angle-steel. This is a fair average 
weld, these corners being much more difficult to make than inside corners, as the gus- 
set piece has to be welded in after being fitted. 

(7) Two pieces of plate, 2^ inches by | inch, welded together straight, then turned 
(upon) its edge to form a circle 6 inches in the clear. It is a sound weld, and there is 
no fracture in the turning. 

(8) Two pieces of plate, 3 inches by -£ inch, welded together and bent off at right 
angles. It is soundly welded, and bent to the form shown without fracture. 

• f (10) A piece of plate, 21 inches by 10 inches by -£■ inch, turned to the form of a tube 
(not welded), then placed in a flanged socket, and a flange-pin forced into it by blows 
from a 60-cwt. steam-hammer. It assumed the form shown after eight blows. Stood 
well. 

(11) A piece of |-inch plate, 12 inches diameter, forced into a socket by blows from a 
steam-hammer, to the form shown. Stood well. 

(12) A piece of ^-inch plate dished to form shown, No. 11, then flattened back nearly 
to its original form. Stood well. 

(13) A piece of |-inch plate, 12 inches in diameter, forced into a tube, then flanged 
back on the auvil to form shown. Stood well. 

(14) An outside and inside corner, made from angle-steel, 6 inches by 3| inches by 
1% inch, welded sound, but with more difficulty than in welding iron. * * * * 

The above tests establish the fact that the material can be easily ma- 
nipulated, and I was informed by the officers in charge that welding was 
successfully accomplished.* In addition to the qualities claimed for this 
steel, it is represented that a series of experiments extending over about 
three years, carefully conducted at the Terre Noire works, had established 
the fact that when exposed to the action of sea-water this soft steel 

* The account of Landore steel is chiefly from a paper by Mr. Keilly, the manager of 
the works. 



THE IRIS AND MERCURY. 159 

suffered by corrosion only in the proportion of 60 to 140, when compared 
with the effect of similar treatment upon iron plates. I do not know 
of any boilers made from this steel; it would seem, however, in consid- 
eration of the rapid decay of the plates of iron boilers consequent upon 
the use of redistilled sea- water, that a liberal expenditure in this direc- 
tion would be wise. 

PURPOSE OF THE LRIS AND MERCURY. 

At a date soon after these two ships were ordered, a distinguished 
English writer in a London magazine enunciated the following: 

It is forgotten that by the declaration of Paris the field of operations is much re- 
stricted as regards either the necessity for protecting our own commercial marine or 
the possibility of injuring an enemy's commerce. This declaration, to which most 
European maritime powers adhered, but which the United States did not join in, is a 
contract to respect private x>roperty, not being contraband of war, if carried in ships 
bearing a neutral flag. * * * Many advantages to this country result from the 
declaration, although serious disadvantages press upon ship-owners, and our position 
as the chief maritime carriers must suffer. On the other hand, it must be noted that 
the United States and England are under no such mutual obligations, and with the 
rankling recollection of the mischief done by the Alabama and her consorts to their 
own mercantile marine, Americans never miss an opportunity of expressing their in- 
tention to make similar attacks on British commerce in case of war, so that England is 
bound always to maintain an unarmored fleet more powerful than that of the United States, 
and not to allow individual unarmoved ships in hev navy to be surpassed in speed or power by 
vessels of the American 2savy. 

STEEL CORVETTES. 

This type of vessel, of which six are in process of construction at the 
works of Messrs. Elder & Co., Glasgow, are to be full-rigged cruisers, 
sheathed with wood, and fitted with single screw-propellers arranged 
for lifting. They are named the Cleopatra, Curagoa, Conquest, Champion, 
Carysfort, and Comus. The principal dimensions are: 

Length between perpendiculars '. 225 feet. 

Breadth, extreme 44 feet 6 inches. 

Depth of hold 21 feet 6 inches. 

Tonnage 2, (Ml tons. 

Displacement 2, 377 tons. 

The three first named are being engined by Messrs. Humphrys, Teu- 
naut & Co., the dimensions of the engines being as follows: 

Type of engines: horizontal, compound, four-cylinder, with return connecting-rods. 

Nn in her of cylinders (one pair of engines) 4 

Diameter of high-pressure cylinders 36 inches. 

Diameter of low-pressure cylinders 64 inches. 

Stroke of pistons 2 feet 6 inches. 

Diameter of crank-shaft 13 inches. 

Revolutions per minute (estimated) 100 

Indicated horse-power, maximum 2,300 

Diameter of screw 16 feet 6 inches. 

Pitch of screw 14 feet 6 inches. 

Type of screw Griffith's two-bladed. 

Type of boilers Cylindrical, single-ended. 

Number of boilers 6 

Number of furnaces in each boiler 2 

Tot al grate surface 266 square feet. 

Total heating surface 6,714 square l'eet. 

Pressure of steam 60 pounds. 

Speed of vessel (estimated maximum) 13 knots. 

Armament. — This is to consist of two 7-inch revolving guns and twelve 
64-pounders on the broadside, all rifles. 

The description of the method of applying the wood sheathing to iron 
or steel hulls has been seen a few pages back ; reference to the foregoing 



160 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF AVAR, ETC. 

sketch of the midship section of the vessels named, will, by illustration, 
make plain this system, now in common use in European navies. A 
section is also here given of the Garnet* showing the composite system 
of construction previously explained. 

The Cleopatra class are built with two decks ; the principal water-tight 
bulkheads are four in number ; and for the purpose of protecting the 
machinery, the lower deck, for the distance extending over the engines 
and boilers, is armored with 1J inch steel plates. 

The materials entering into the construction of the hulls is, in the main, 
steel, about half of which has been made by the Siemens process and the 
other half by the Bessemer; both kinds furnished for the corvettes have 
been represented to be of good and uniform quality, having a tenacity 
of 25 to 26 tons per square inch, and sufficiently soft to double cold with- 
out fracture. The rivets used are of iron. 

Steels are now rapidly gaining favor, both in the navies of Europe 
and the mercantile marine, for use in the construction of vessels, of 
boilers, and many parts of the engines. In consideration of the greater 
tenacity and ductility of this material over the iron usually entering 
into ship-construction, Lloyd's Kegister has agreed to accept for mer- 
cantile vessels a reduction of 20 per cent, from their standard for iron, 
and 25 per cent, in the thickness of boiler-plates, while the Board of 
Trade has allowed boiler-steel to be accepted at its tested strength of 
28 to 30 tons, the saving in weight here being just what corresponds to 
the ratio in which this tenacity exceeds that of ordinary boiler-plates. 

MATERIALS FOR SHIPS OP WAR. 

In a paper by Mr. John Vernon, on the construction of iron ships ( Trans. 
I. M. E.), it is stated : " The main points of superiority of iron ships over 
those built of wood consist in the superior strength, greater durability, 
and consequently less cost of iron ships, together with their larger carry- 
ing capability and greater facility of construction." 

The greater strength of iron ships is shown in daily practice in numer- 
ous ways, and it is also shown by the fact that in many modern wooden 
ships it has been found necessary to introduce diagonal iron straps in- 
side the framing, and in many cases the use of iron bulkheads, knees, 
beams, and stringers, and even the frame-work itself for the whole struct- 
ure; but this arrangement, it is admitted, falls far short in point of 
strength of a vessel built entirely of iron. Again, the introduction of 
iron affords great facility for obtaining the necessary strength in keels, 
stem and stern posts, screw-port frames, and other parts, by the appli- 
cation of large forgings, also by tying the bottoms, decks, and sides of 
a vessel together with bulkheads. 

The greater comparative durability of iron arises mainly from its free- 
dom from the decay to which wood is always liable, in consequence of 
being unavoidably subject to constant and extreme variations of tem- 
perature and moisture. Another important source of this greater dura- 
bility is to be found in the firm and substantial union of the several 
parts of an iron ship by means of riveting, which effectually prevents 
that working under heavy strains to which all wooden ships are more or 
less liable, and which is a source of great difficulty with the engines, 
caused by the screw-shafts being forced out of alignment, and thereby 
strained. 

Abundant proof of the superiority of metal over wood for ship-con- 
struction may be found in the records of our Navy I)epartment,as shown 
by the yearly sale or breaking up of vessels, not by reason of their being 



MATERIALS FOR SHIP-BUILDING. 



161 



of obsolete types, but consequent upon the timber of which the hulls 
were composed being decayed to such an extent as to render them unfit 
even for repairs. Quite a number of vessels have been found so decayed 
after the first commission as to condemn them for further service, and 
others having been several years on the stocks have rotted and been con- 
demned before being launched. Some vessels have been rebuilt, while 
others, retained in the service and kept in repair, have cost in the course 
of ten years, more than the sum necessary to build the same number 
of new ships of iron, of similar dimensions. 

In corroboration of this statement the following table from the tes- 
timony taken by the House Committee on Naval Affairs (H. E. Mis. Doc. 
170, p. 450), officially furnished by the Navy Department, July 6, 1876, 
showing the cost of repairs, &c, is given : 







S s 9 






a a a 


















■2»- 






^w'-g 














Name of ship. 


Kate. 


Cost of repair 
1870 and 18 
reau of Coi 
and;Repair. 


Name of ship. 


Rate. 


Cost of repair 
1870 and 18 
reau of Coi 
and Repair. 


Franklin 


First 


$103, 703 57 


Omaha 


Second 


$179, 762 51 




do 


303, 899 45 

512, 222 62 

*203, 653 52 




....do 


550, 294 27 
153, 905 85 
124, 293 71 
301,100 86 




...do 




do .., 








....do 




do 


143, 766 96 

396, 690 06 

84 002 21 




Third 




...do 




... do 


501, 104 11 




. do .. 




do . 


143, 218 31 
104, 152 65 




...do 


360, 804 65 




....do 




....do 


600, 000 00 
445, 792 94 




....do 


54, 410 87 




....do 













* The estimated additional cost of repairs.for this vessel in February, 1878, was $187,000. 

The foregoing list * does not include all the wooden vessels of the Navy 
of which the cost for repairs was reported to the committee. It includes 
only those on which the greatest amounts had been expended in the 
five years between 1870 and 1875, and it does not include any vessels 
rebuilt under the head of " repairs." 

It is proper to state that the large suras expended on repairs, as here 
reported, have not been due entirely to the fact of the hulls being of 
wood, but the largest portion of it, at least 75 per cent., is so due ; that 
is to say, the money was expended in substituting sound timber in lieu 
of rotten or defective wood ; almost the whole of which money would 
have been saved if the hulls had been of iron or steel. Evidence of this 
may be found by a comparison of the bills for repairs of the United 
States iron steamer Michigan during the thirty-five years she has been 
in continuous service with those for the above-named vessels. 

It is fair to assume that the difference between the cost of the repairs 
of our entire fleet and one of the same number and dimensions of ves- 
sels, all having iron hulls cased in wood, would be a sufficient sum to add 
to the Navy yearly at least one good-sized cruising-vessel. 

The preceding figures are sufficiently appalling to cause any Con- 
gressional committee to pause before recommending the construction of 

* The amounts given in the table as having been expended for repairs include only 
those directly under the cognizance of the Bureau of Construction, and for labor and 
materials only ; a large additional amount is also to be charged for repairs, &c, by the 
Bureaus of Steam Engineering, Equipment, and Ordnance. 

11 K 



162 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC 

more wooden ships. Yet that able ordnance officer, Captain Simpson, 
U. S. K, in a letter to the Army and JS T avy Journal of March 2 of this 
year, writes "A word of caution" against building iron ships of war; and, 
to sustain his views, quotes the antiquated reports of experiments made in 
England twenty-eight and thirty-eight years ago, showing that 32 pound 
shot, fired with charges of from 2J to 10 pounds of powder at a distance 
of 450 yards, were shivered to pieces in passing through the thin sides 
of an iron hull ; and that if the plates be of f -inch thickness, the shots 
will be broken by impact. He also states, " In the matter of material for 
building ships England has no choice ; with her it is a necessity that 
forces her to build of iron. Had she the forests of America at her back 
we should have never heard of her fleet of composite light cruisers." 
Persons well informed in the history and progress of naval construction 
are acquainted with the reports quoted by Captain Simpson, also with 
the fact that, consequent upon said reports, the introduction of iron ships 
for general service in the British navy was long deferred until better 
experience was acquired. We have knowledge of, and have referred on 
another page to, a report made about the same time (1840), by officers of 
the same royal navy, that the screw-propeller was not suitable for ships 
of war. It is scarcely necessary to mention the fact that when the 
experiments referred to by Captain Simpson were made, ships of all 
navies were propelled by the wind; that the guns they carried were of 
cast iron or bronze, of smooth bore and small caliber, and that the pro- 
jectiles used were cast iron, spherical, solid shot. 

The types of ships, the materials of which they are composed, the guns 
mounted on them, the projectiles and instruments of. all kinds employed 
in modern warfare, differ from those of former times so radically that 
better authority would be the numerous and expensive iron- target-firing 
experiments of recent times, rather than going back twenty-eight years 
for illustrations. Surely no such conditions as are named in the experi- 
ments quoted will ever concur in modern warfare. The art of artil- 
lery-fire has now reached such perfection that it may be confidently 
asserted that any unarmored vessel, of whatever type, should be sunk 
in a brief period by the common shells of the present day, and whether 
the materials of which her hull is composed be wood, iron, or steel, will 
not materially alter the time necessary to send her to the bottom: the 
Alabama, Congress, and Oneida deserve the title "slaughter-pens" as 
well as any iron vessels Captain Simpson refers to. 

The first requisite in a modern ship of war is high speed, and the strength 
of hull necessary for this cannot be obtaiued by any combination of 
wood bolted or spiked to wood ; the Ioica and class, and numerous other 
examples, are proofs of this. 

The British admiralty have abandoned wood ship-building for the 
reason that the requisite strength of hull and endurance of ma- 
terials composing it could only be obtained by the use of metals, 
not for want of timber, for the markets of the world are open to 
them now as in former times, and wooden ships can be built in their 
dock yards at less cost than in our yards. The naval authorities of all 
other European countries are following the example of the British, and 
are now building their vessels of iron and steel, the hulls of which are 
cased in wood, or as in the composite build, with the plauking of 
wood and all other parts of metal. It may be added that steel is rapidly 
gaining favor, and will, probably, soon be most generally employed. 

To say that we are right in adhering to wooden ships, is to say that 
the vast experience of the skilled naval architects, and that of the naval 
authorities of the great navies of the world, is all wrong — a position 



MATERIALS FOR SHIP-BUILDING. 163 

which, in view of our comparatively limited experience, we are no more 
justified in assuming than we would be in saying that our cast-iron 
smooth-bore guns are superior to the steel or wrought-iron and steel rifles 
of European navies. 

SHIPS OF THE MERCANTILE MARINE SUITABLE FOR WAR PURPOSES. 

According to the returns of the British Board of Trade, at the begin- 
ning of 1876 the number of registered sailing-vessels having a tonnage of 
50 and upward was 18,696, and of registered steam-vessels of 50 tons and 
upward there were 3,436; total number of merchant-vessels sailing 
under the British flag, 22,132. Out of the number of steam-vessels thus 
registered about 300 are recorded as having a speed of upward of 12 
knots per hour, regular steaming, at sea; quite a number of them have 
a speed of from 14 to 15 knots, and several of the Atlantic steamers have 
made upward of 16 knots per hour, under favorable conditions, for sev- 
eral days consecutively. In August, 1875, the writer was a passenger 
on board the Germanic, of the White Star Line, which made the passage 
from Sandy Hook to Queenstown in seven days and twenty-one hours, 
unaided by sail. This time has since been beaten by the same ship in a 
number of trips, also by the sister ship Britannic, which vessel made the 
run in August, 1877, from Queenstown to Sandy Hook in seven days and 
eleven hours. 

All of these mercantile ships are iron-built, and have great strength 
of hull; they are engined on the compound system, and are provided with 
sufficient coal-storage for long runs. 

But objections are raised against such vessels being fitted as fighting- 
ships; these objections consist, first, in the position of the motive ma- 
chinery. In unarmored ships of war the engine, boilers, and steam-pipes 
are kept below the water-level ; moreover, in recently-built British un- 
armored ships of war coal is stored between the sides of the hull and the 
engines and boilers from a few feet below the water-line to some distance 
above it,* while in the merchant-ship the steam-cylinders, steam-pipes, 
and tops of the boilers are usually above the water-level, consequently 
exposed to shot and shell traversing the ship, and any serious injury to 
these vital parts would disable her. 

The second objection is to the material of which the ship is built. Un- 
armored ships of war of modern build almost invariably have wooden 
skins, even if the ribs, beams, and interior parts are of iron. In large ships 
of high steam-power, where the necessary strength and rigidity of the 
structure cannot be secured without iron or steel, wood is used as an 
outer covering for the iron skin. The reason for the objection to iron 
plates without wooden sheathing in such structures is, that if the iron 
skin exists alone, projectiles passing out at low velocity at the side 
opposite to that at which they entered are likely to drive away from the 
frames a considerable area of plating, and if this should happen on or 
below the water-line the consequences might be serious. A thick, well- 
fitted wood sheathing secured on the plates tends to prevent this. For 
this reason, and also to prevent the fouling to which the iron skins are 
subject, a wood sheathing is now applied to nearly L all ships of war 
having iron or steel hulls. 

* Experiments were made at Portsmouth, in October, 1877, to test the effect of firing 
shells, containing bursting charges, into coal-bunkers. The vessel used for the experi- 
ment was the Oberon, and the guns were 64-pounders, fired from the gunboat Blood- 
hound. The range was 2l'0 yards, and the bursting charge of the shell was 7 pounds. 
The result of the experiment showed the coal to be a protection agaiDst this kind of 
projectile, but did not show whether the coal, which was bituminous, would be ignited 
by the explosion. 



164 EUEOPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

The third objection is, that there is no effectual division of the ship 
by water-tight bulkheads, while there is no uuarmored ship of war, built 
of iron, which is not so divided as to be secure against foundering in 
ordinary weather with any one compartment in free communication 
with the sea, which is a condition held to be necessary. 

This bulkhead objection will, however, be removed from mercantile 
steamers constructed in the future, as all the ship-owners in the United 
Kingdom have accepted the admiralty condition, and it is now believed 
that every first-class steamship hereafter built will float in smooth water 
with any one of its compartments in free communication with the out- 
side water, and bulkheads can be readily introduced into any vessels 
now afloat that may be selected as suitable for naval purposes. 

The first and second objections are not so easily and quickly remedied; 
but, assuming that such ships would be no match for unarmored ships 
properly built for war, they would evidently be the equals, and probably, 
as a consequence of their speed, the superiors of merchant-ships em- 
ployed by the enemy; besides, they would be numerous and formidable 
against sailing-vessels and slow steamers, and they would have reason- 
able security against capture by Alabamas. 

The subject of arming mercantile vessels in the event of war has 
long been under consideration by the admiralty, and their views have 
recently been foreshadowed by the director of naval construction, who 
read a paper before the eighteenth session of the Institution of Naval 
Architects, the notable parts of which are extracted, as follows : 

* * * I believe the ships may he so defended and armed as to become not only 
quite capable of defending themselves and of destroying armed ships not regularly built 
for war, but also most useful auxiliaries in all important naval operations. It is quite 
certain that they can at a few hours' notice be efficiently defended by a shot-proof 
screen across the deck before the machinery, and can as a rule be quickly and inex- 
pensively armed with rams and with two 64-pounder guns in the bow. So long, there- 
fore, as they can be fought bow on, they will compare favorably for ordnance, for the 
ram, and for the torpedo, with unarmored ships of war. The same holds good as to 
the defense and armament of the stern. About the broadside I am not so clear, but 1 
should not despair, in view of structure and stability, of giving at short notice to 
many of our fast ocean-going ships an efficient broadside of 64-pounder guns, and 6- 
inch armored screens between decks, if that were ever found to be desirable. I think, 
however, we may be content with an armament which would be an absolute guarantee 
for their own preservation ; for the equally fast unarmored ship of war or privateer 
would not, and the slower armored ship could not, attack them ; an armament which 
would, moreover, make them more than a match for some of the slow wooden frigates 
and corvettes of old type in foreign navies, and more than a match also for rovers not 
regularly built for war. The extent to which, with the protection and armament I have 
indicated, they could be employed in naval warfare may be thought out, if we consider 
what those operations will be. I think they may be summarized as follows : 

Naval operations in warfare.— Defensive. — (1) Self-protection by merchants or 
travelers on the high seas against rovers, whether men-of-war or armed merchant-ships. 
(2) The patrol of the highways of commerce by vessels in the employment of the gov- 
ernment, for the destruction or capture of rovers. (3) Clearing the offing of important 
harbors, at home and in the colonies, of hostile vessels, including breaking the attempt- 
ed blockades of ports. (4) Convoying merchant-ships. (5) Protecting harbors, naval 
stations, and coasts, at home aDd in the colonies, against violation. 

Offensive. — (1) The capture of trading-fchips belonging to the enemy, or liable to cap- 
ture on his account. (2) The infliction of injury upon harbors, naval stations, and 
coast towns, and landing military forces on the enemy's territory. (3) Disabling or 
destroying the armed ships of the enemy. (4) Blockading the principal ports of the 
enemy to prevent the passage of merchandise inward or outward, and to lock up his 
armed ships. (5) Transporting troops, stores, and munitions of war, and keeping up 
communications by dispatch-vessels. 

Of the five classes of work placed under the head of defensive warfare, a fast mer- 
chant-ship, armed, could perform two, in independence of the regular ships of war, and 
could take part in all the rest as auxiliaries to the iron-clads. And a precisely similar 
statement holds good with regard to the five classes of work placed under the head of 
offensive warfare. I do not stop to particularize these, as a little study of the question 
will, I believe, insure acceptance of this view. 



MERCHANT VESSELS FOR WAR PURPOSES. 165 

There are certain general principles which may be accepted as arising out of the rela- 
tion between the several types of fighting-ship. (1) The iron-clad ship will, as a rule, 
be slower and have less coal endurance than the first -class unarmored or lightly- ar- 
mored ship. The iron-clad ship will therefore be unable to force the first-class unar- 
mored or lightly-armored ship to engage her. (2) In duels between fast unarmored 
or lightly-armored steamships, the ship with most guns — supposing them to be equally 
good and equally well served — will generally be the victor, whatever the relative speeds 
or turning powers of the ships may be, because such actions will generally be deter- 
mined at long ranges. (3) Since the merchant-ships cannot mount numerous guns, they 
will, even when armed, find the modern regular ship of war almost always their victor 
in single combat, and fast unarmored or lightly-armored ships will be more effective 
against armed merchant-ships than iron-clads would be. It follows from this that fast 
unarmored or lightly-armored ships of war must be of great consequence to a navy 
against which armed merchant-ships may be employed by an enemy. (4) The speed 
with which fast steamships can in any weather bear down at night upon slower steam- 
ships and sailing-ships, and the terrible nature of the attack they can make upon such 
ships with shells, the ram, and the spar-torpedo, will make it impossible to convoy 
successfully sailing-ships and slow steamships in face of the attack of even unarmored 
ships, provided they are fast and efficiently armed. 

ENGLAND AND THE DECLARATION OF PARIS. 

By the provisions of the declaration of Paris, privateering is abol- 
ished. The result of this is that Great Britain, being at war with any 
power possessing a navy, immunity from capture on the high seas can 
only be secured for British merchandise by carrying the same in ships 
sailing under a neutral flag and registered in a sea-port of a neutral 
power. 

Some eminent Englishmen concluded that, as a consequence of this 
international law, a protracted war with a naval power would cause 
the transfer of a great portion of the carrying trade of England to some 
other country. The agitation upon this question first assumed a defi- 
nite shape in the well-known pamphlet of Mr. Brassey, published nearly 
two years ago. Beiug precluded from granting letters of marque to 
merchantmen, they now propose to overcome the difficulty by commis- 
sioning, in time of war, as many merchant-steamers — 

as may be built in accordance with certain requirements laid down by them, provided 
their owners consent to the arrangement upon the receipt of a certain subsidy. Au 
admiralty officer in the controller's department has, during the past twelve months, 
visited every sea-port in Great Britain and Ireland, and surveyed or obtained particu- 
lars of the iron steamships sailing therefrom. The result of this inspection has been 
highly satisfactory, and their lordships are informed, upon the authority of this offi- 
cer, that a very large number of these steamships are already built in accordance with 
the admiralty requirements for the purpose in view. With the addition of a little 
strengthening under the guns, and the construction of a magazine and shell-room, 
these vessels will be most formidable cruisers, fitted not only to defend themselves, 
but to act as policemen in the tracks which will be pursued by other merchantmen on 
the principal ocean voyages. These tracks will be marked out by the hydrographical 
department, in order that vessels may pass along the protected routes to their several 
destinations. The admiralty stipulate that vessels selected and subsidized for this 
service shall be capable of steaming at least twelve cousecutive hours at not less than 
twelve knots an hour, at sea ; also that they shall be so divided by bulkheads that, 
with a hole of any size in any one compartment, they shall continue to float in smooth 
water. It is proposed to arm these vessels with two 64-pounder guns, one forward and 
the other aft. * # * * It will be a question for their owners to consider whether 
the advantages offered are sufficient to compensate them for the cost of the alterations 
and the inconvenience resulting from the original intentions in the ship's design beiug 
departed from. Exteusive water-tight subdivision does not meet with much favor in 
certain trades, as it interferes seriously with the stowage of the cargo and the opera- 
tions of loading and unloading. Underwriters do not at present make that difference 
in the premiums of insurance which is represented by the additional outlay and the 
inconvenience endured, notwithstanding the greater chance of safety to vessel and 
-cargo which these bulkheads provide. The whole question is purely a commercial one, 
and by commercial principles it will bo tested by the shipping portion of the commu- 
nity. 



:pjl:r,t ixi. 



THE PERKINS HIGH-PRESSURE COMPOUND SYSTEM; METHOD 

OF CONTRACTING FOR STEAM-MACHINERY FOR THE 

NAVY; TRIALS OF SHIPS AT THE MEASURED 

MILE; PERSONNEL OF THE BRITISH NAVY; 

COST OF MAINTAINING THE NAVY. 



107 







The Perkins Engine. 



THE PERKINS HIGH-PRESSURE COMPOUND 

SYSTEM. 



The machinery about to be described was under construction for Her 
Britannic Majesty's sloop Pelican, and considerable progress had been 
made when a suit at law between the constructors of the engines and 
the patentee unfortunately caused the work to cease, and as a conse- 
quence the naval authorities canceled the contract, declined to enter 
into any other engagements relating thereto, and placed engines in the 
Pelican similar to those in the Fantome. 

The British admiralty have long been noted for the careful investi- 
gation given untried plans of any kind proposed for ships of the royal 
navy. As a rule, they adopt useful inventions only after such have 
been successfully established in the mercantile marine ; a case in point 
was the caution exercised in the introduction of the compound engine. 
It must therefore have been unusually strong proof which decided that 
august board to make the test, on a large scale, of a system so far in ad- 
vance of the present day, and to pass from 70 pounds pressure per square 
inch as the highest used in boilers of the navy to 300 pounds pressure 
per square inch ; it was a step beyond anything previously attempted. 

The Pelican is a composite sloop, of 1,124 tons displacement, built at 
Devonport. The steam-machinery originally intended for this vessel 
was designed by the Yorkshire Engine Company, under letters patent 
granted Mr. Loftus Perkins, an enterprising American, long established 
as a manufacturer in London. The novelty of the design and the prin- 
ciples involved are so unlike those which have influenced the construc- 
tion heretofore of machinery for marine purposes, that the subject 
excited no small degree of attention among parties interested in naval 
and mercantile vessels. The contract provided that the vessel should 
on the trials at the measured mile, and on the six-hour runs, develop 
900 indicated horse-power and consume not more than 3£ pounds of coal 
per indicated horse-power per hour. The engines have 5 cylinders of 
three different diameters, two high-pressure of 16 inches diameter, two 
medium-pressure of 32 inches diameter, and one low-pressure of 56 
inches diameter. One high and one medium pressure cylinder are bolted 
together end to end ; these cylinders are single-acting, the steam being- 
admitted first to the high-pressure, thence on a return stroke to the op- 
posite end of the medium-pressure cylinder, and thence it escapes into 
a receiver. The other high and medium pressure cylinders are bolted 
together in the same manner and are acted upon by the steam in the same 
way. The low- pressure cylinder is double-acting, and draws its supply of 
steam from the receiver into which the medium-pressure cylinders ex- 
haust, and itself exhausts into the condenser. There are three cranks, 
placed 120° apart, and these are coupled, the after crank to the common 
piston-rod of one pair of cylinders of high and medium pressure; the 
center crank to the piston-rod of the low-pressure cylinder, and the for- 
ward crank to that of the other pair of high and medium pressure cylin- 
ders. The stroke is 2 feet, and the revolutions per minute were to be 

169 



170 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



D 



about 100. The valves employed throughout are of the piston variety; 
the advantages claimed for the method of construction in these valves 
is the almost entire absence of friction, wear, or leakage, combined with 
a balanced valve. The surface-condenser, also patented by Mr. Per- 
kins, is constructed in such a way as to prevent leakage through the 
tubes when they are correctly fitted. 

The tubes are galvanized, and arranged as illustrated by the annexed 
sketch.* The cooling- tubes, which are surrounded by steam, and of 
which one, C D, is shown, are closed by welding up one 
end,D, and are accurately and permanently screwed into 
a strong plate at the other end, C. Each has within it 
a circulating-tube, B, secured to a tube-plate placed at a 
little distance from the former. The circulating water 
passes from the sea into and through the internal tube 
and returns by the annular space between the two tubes, 
passing out to the pumps. 

The pistons of the steam-cylinders are made tight by 
having several rings, or sets of rings, say six, of hard 
metal ; each being separated from the others by what 
the inventor terms intermediate junk-rings. These 
rings, of Mr. Perkins's patent metal, are composed of five 
parts of tin and sixteen parts of copper. 

All hot surfaces of the cylinders and pipes are sur- 
rounded with a jacket of sheet iron, packed with vege- 
table black. Independent air, circulating, and feed 
pumps were to be provided, driven by a separate pair 
of engines. The boilers contain a nest of built up tubes, 
placed horizontally, close to each other, and having the 
flame and gases passing around and among them. 
These tubes are 3 inches in diameter and f- inch thick ; 
when put together in the boilers, they are proved to 
2,500 pounds hydrostatic pressure to the square inch, 
and worked at a pressure of 300 pounds per square inch. 
There is consequently an enormous margin of safety, and 
every precaution is taken in building the tubes together 
to insure tightness, and their connections are to be be- 
yond doubt of danger or waste. So also with the 
engines : they are made of the best materials, and in- 
volve the best workmanship. The water-gauges em- 
ployed are made of mica, and to secure a tight joint 
between the two plates of mica and the two opposite 
faces of the body of the gauges there is formed a narrow 
raised edge, against which the mica is firmly pressed by 
a metal plate applied to its front face. 

The first peculiarity of the Perkins system is the ex- 
tremely high pressure at which he works the steam — in 
this case from 250 to 300 pounds per square inch ; and he claims to have 
quite overcome all the difficulties hitherto experienced in using steam at 
sea above ordinary working pressures. A second peculiarity of the sys- 
tem is the absence of internal lubrication with either oil or tallow, thereby 
avoiding the possibility of corrosion by fatty acids; while, to prevent the 
wear of cylinders and slides, which is experienced under ordinary circum- 
stances, he uses a metal of his own, whose composition and working are 
reported as unobjectionable. Another peculiarity and important feature 
of the Perkins system consists in the use, over and over again, of soft 

* From Engineering. 



c 



~wm 



\ 



PERKINS HIGH-PRESSURE COMPOUND SYSTEM. 171 

fresh water or rain-water. The continually recurrent use of pure water, 
not distilled sea-water, is claimed as the only remedy against the internal 
corrosion of marine boilers supplied with water from surface-condensers. 
So much importance is attached to this point, that the committee ap- 
pointed by the admiralty to investigate the subject of boiler corrosion 
were urgent in their recommendation to test the system, without loss of 
time, on a scale sufficiently large to arrive at correct conclusions on the 
subject. Of course this involves the necessity of carrying at sea a supply 
of fresh water sufficient to make up for all waste accruing during a voy- 
age, and objection has been urged to the system on this account ; but, 
on the other hand, it is alleged that all joints are to be made mathe- 
matically correct and tight, as shown by the boilers and engines now in 
operation on the system, hence the leakage will be reduced to a minimum. 

This would have been the first attempt to use steam of 300 pounds 
pressure at sea $ and while an expression of opiuion has become need- 
less, it is proper to state that Mr. Perkins has been entirely successful 
in his land-engines built on the same system, one of which has been con- 
tinuously employed at his works for fourteen years, using steam at 500 
pounds pressure per square inch. The tubes of this boiler, cut out after 
thirteen years 7 service, as inspected by me, were found to be in a remark- 
able state of preservation, as were also the piston-packing and valve- 
rings, which had been at work eighteen months without lubrication. 

Besides the land-engines manufactured by Mr. Perkins, he has built 
and kept employed during the last few years, for his own use, a small 
yacht, the Emily, engined on his own system, the greater portion of the 
time running under a boiler-pressure of 500 pounds per square inch. 
The number of cylinders in this boat is six ; two high-pressure, two inter- 
mediate, and two low-pressure. The high and intermediate pressure cyl- 
inders are single-acting, the latter exhausting into a chamber from which 
the low-pressure cylinder is supplied. The steam is expanded 24 times, 
and the expenditure of fuel is a little above 1 pound of coal per horse- 
power per hour. 

Mr. Perkins has also engined one of the Thames tug-boats on his high- 
pressure double compound system. There is in this case a pair of engines 
working a screw 8 feet 6 inches in diameter, and of 11 feet 6 inches pitch. 
The cylinders are four in number, with diameters of 15 and 30 inches, and 
the working pressure is 250 pounds per square inch. It was after the 
inspection of this boat, the yacht Emily, and Mr. Perkins's land-engines 
that the committee appointed by the admiralty recommended the system 
to be tested on a considerable scale in one of Her Britannic Majesty's 
vessels. The system of working the steam in the cylinders is the same as 
in the land engines of Mr. Perkins, which the preceding drawing and 
his explanation following will make clear. 

a is a single-acting high- pressure cylinder. 

& is a single-acting cylinder of four times the capacity of a. 

c is a double-acting cylinder of four times the capacity of b. 

<l and e are two pistons on the same rod, working in the cylinders a and b. 

The course of the steam is as follows : The steam enters a at 250 pounds pressure 
and cuts off at half stroke ; at the termination of the stroke it expands into the bottom 
end of cylinder 6, making the return stroke; it then expands into the opposite end of 
cylinder b, which is in direct communication with the valve-box of cylinder c. This 
latter is double-acting, and is arranged to cut off at about quarter stroke and exhaust 
into the coudenser after the steam has expanded 32 times. 



SYSTEM OF CONTRACTING FOR STEAM-MACHIN- 
ERY FOR THE BRITISH NAVY. 



The policy of England has been steadily to encourage the responsible 
engineering- works of the kingdom with orders, which have in no small 
degree tended to expand and develop their special resources for marine- 
engine construction, and, besides, to obtain through these establishments 
the best constructive and mechanical engineering ability. No steam- 
machinery for ships of war has at any time been manufactured in the 
excellent works of the dock-yards. These works are employed solely 
on the repairs of the steam fleet. All new machinery is built by con- 
tract from the designs of responsible bidders, and the establishment 
to which the contract is awarded guarantees the entire work and the 
indicated horse-power on the measured mile. It is also held responsible 
for the efficiency of the machinery for a period of one year after it has 
been accepted by the admiralty, and any parts which during that period 
may be found defective, or may show symptoms of weakness owing to 
faulty design, materials, or workmanship, must be removed and others 
substituted for them by the contractors at their own expense. When 
the machinery for a new ship or class of vessels is to be furnished, the 
specifications are drawn up by the engineer-in-chief and printed. They are 
headed " Specifications of certain particulars to be strictly observed in 

the construction of engines, with screws, for the ship 

, of indicated horse-power." These specifications give all 

the principal dimensions and many of the details of the engines, boilers, 
and appendages. They also limit the weight and space to be occupied. 
They are then sent out to the following-named firms : Messrs. John 
Penn & Son, Greenwich; Messrs. Maudslay, Field & Son, London; 
Messrs. Humphrys & Tennant, Deptford ; Messrs. Eennie & Bros., Lon- 
don ; Messrs. Napier & Son, Glasgow ; Messrs. John Elder & Co., Glas- 
gow ; Messrs. Laird Bros., Birkenhead ; Messrs. Easton & Anderson, 
Leith, and sometimes to other works. 

In tendering for the supply of the machinery, the contractors are re- 
quested to forward a design in accordance with the specifications and 
tracings of the ship, &c, supplied. They are also requested to furnish 
a design and tender for any other plan of engines and boilers not based 
on the specifications, adhering to the total weight and space to be oc- 
cupied by the machinery. The tender accepted by the admiralty is in 
most cases in accordance with the specifications, but not always so, as 
may be seen in the case of the sister ships Nelson and Northampton. 
The specifications for the motive machinery of these two ships were 
printed as for a class, and while the contract for the former is based on 
them, the latter has engines of an entirely different design, as has been 
seen in the brief description of these vessels elsewhere. There are other 
similar cases of contracts where tenders have been received on the speci- 
fications of a class, but it is unnecessary to refer to them here, as it is 
believed that sufficient has been said to show the system pursued in 
obtaining machinery for the ships of the British navy. 
172 



TRIALS OF BRITISH NAVAL VESSELS AT THE 
MEASURED MILE. 



The speed of all steam-vessels belonging to the British navy is tested 
by running them over a measured mile in Stokes Bay, near Portsmouth. 
The indicated horse-power of new engines, as stipulated by contract, is 
also determined on the runs over this course. The noteworthy points 
in the regulations for these trials are as follows : 

Her Majesty's ships are to be tried on the measured mile on the following occasions : 

1st. After having new engines erected. 

2d. After every extensive repair of engines. 

3d. On being commissioned when all their weights are on board. 

4th. When trials may be ordered on special occasions. * ■* * 

Ships in the first division of the reserve are to be tried under way once every year 
during summer for not less than six hours; but it is not required that they be taken 
to the measured mile for the purpose, and their trial at full speed need not be of longer 
duration than four hours. * * * The trials of ships at the measured mile 
are to be conducted under the charge of the captain or commander of the reserve, who 
ib to be accompanied by the constructor, an engineer officer from the yard, and the 
chief inspector of machinery afloat. * * * As a rule, the trials should not 
take place when the force of wind exceeds 3. * * * No other coal is to be 
used while running the mile than the coals specially ordered by the admiralty. * * * 
The best-trained stokers that can be selected from the reserve are to be employed. 

On the full-power trials of ships at the measured mile, the engines and boilers are 
to be worked to the utmost extent of their capabilities, not only when running the 
mile, but the whole of the intervals between the several runs. 

In the intervals between the runs, ships are to be run well away from the marks, so 
as to insure the attainment of full speed on their return to them. 

Steam must not be partially shut off when the ship is not on the mile in order to 
obtain a higher result when she is on the mile. * * * * Indicator-dia- 
grams are to be taken, as nearly as possible, at equal intervals of time during each 
run, in order to obtain the real mean pressure in the cylinders. * * *' The 
revolutions of the engines during each run are to be taken by the counter. 

If, during the trial, any defects should occur to the machinery or the ship, the trial 
is to cease ; * * * a new series of trials being commenced when the defects shall 
have been made good. 

If the boilers should prime so that they cannot be worked at full power, even at the 
close of the trial, it is to be considered as unsatisfactory and the trial is to be repeated. 

Whenever irregularities occur in runuiug the measured mile, either at full or half 
power, the officers are to repeat the runs until the results agree one with the other so 
nearly as to leave no reasonable doubt of their substantial accuracy. 

When ships which have new engin s not yet received from the contractor are under 
trial at the measured mile, the engines and boilers during the trial are to be under the 
charge of the contractor or his agent, w r ho is to have the whole responsibility and 
management; * * * but the trial is to be conducted in strict accordance with 
the regulations laid down for all trials at the measured mile, and the engineer officers 
will be responsible that the regulations are never deviated from. * 
Full and detailed reports of the results of the trial of each ship at the measured mile 
are to be made in the prescribed forms and forwarded to the admiralty. A tracing of 
the screw-propeller is to be annexed thereto, also a set of original indicator-diagrams 
for one mile only. * * In all reports of trials it is to be stated whether 

the engines and boilers did or did not work in a satisfactory manner, and are or are 
not in all respects tit for service at sea. If the trial should not have been satisfactory, 
the reason is to be stated and the time it will take to render the machinery fit for service 
at sea. 

When the ship tried is in commission, the reports are to be signed by the captain and 
chief engineer of the ship, as well as by the officers of the reserve and the dock-yard. 
******* 

After every trial of a ship in commission, and before proceeding to sea, the ship is 

173 



174 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

to run into the harbor for at least 24 hours, and be carefully examined by a shipwright 
and engineer officers of the yard, to ascertain that there are no defects, and a report 
made. These reports are to be signed by the dock-yard officers who made the exam- 
ination, the chief constructor, and the chief engineer of the dock-yard ; also by the 
officer in command of the ship and the chief engineer of the ship, and are to be ac- 
companied by any remarks which the superintendent may think proper to offer. 

* * ■ * Besides the above trials, it is directed that the engines of all ships in com- 
mission for service at sea are to be worked at full power twice during each year by their 
own complement. The first full-power trial is to be made when the ship is commis- 
sioned ready for sea, after the dock-yard trials to test the machinery have been made, 
and it is to be of six hours' duration. * * * 

In consequence of the explosion of the boiler of the Thunderer and 
other mishaps, new instructions were issued in the autumn of 1877, 
which embody very important alterations, the following synopsis of 
which is from an English journal : 

* * * With referenee to the measured-mile runs, the object is to make the trial 
a test not only of what the engines are capable of doing when at their best and pushed 
to the utmost of their power, but also of what they are likely to perform in the ordi- 
nary circumstances of sea service. Great attention has been given to the importance 
of securing perfect observations by a series of checks and counter-checks, and. of ob- 
taining uniform results throughout the trials. Their lordships have also, profiting 
from recent experience, seen the necessity of rigidly defining the responsibility of 
every one concerned in the trials, and of taking effective measures for the prevention of 
accidents. Full-power trials are intended to test the capability of the machinery and 
boilers in Her Majesty's ships to maintain the required horse-power for lengthened 
periods of service at full speed, and the officers who are authorized to test the machinery 
are to satisfy themselves that no faults exist in the construction of the engines which 
may render the ship inefficient for such service. In all the old contracts the manufac- 
turers were required to develop the guaranteed power of the engines at a trial on the 
measured mile. Experience, however, has shown that this stipulation was objection- 
able in many respects. As a test of endurance the measured-mile trial was not so con- 
clusive as a six hours' full-power run under way ; and as a trial of the performances of 
the ship as regards speed it was, in consequence of the difference of trim between the 
ship on the mile and when commissioned, positively misleading. Besides, as the con- 
tractors are in no wise concerned in the behavior of the ship apart from the working 
of the machinery, it was unfair to them that they should be put to the expense of keep- 
ing the engines in order until the ship was ready for the mile. 

In all the new contracts a six hours' run has been substituted for the mile trial, and 
if the machinery works well and indicates the covenanted horse-power, it will be 
" taken over" at once by the admiralty. Before the official trials are held the con- 
tractors are to be allowed such preliminary trials under way as they may consider 
necessary to prepare the engines. During these trials the engines are to have a run of 
at least an hour with the expansion-valves in full gear, and such trials at lower grades 
as may be deemed necessary to test the efficiency of the expansion-gear, the steam in 
the boilers being at the same time maintained at its maximum pressure. If the engines 
are fitted with a surface-condenser, the jet-injection is also to be submitted to a trial 
of one or two hours, at full speed, for the purpose of determining the capability of the 
machinery and the power which it is possible to develop with the common injection. 
The engines are also to be stopped, started, and reversed at full speed. Before going 
on the official trial the contractor is required to notify the captain of the steam reserve 
that the steam-gauges, stop-valves, safety-valves, and sentinel-valves of all the boilers 
under which fires are lighted are in good working order. The stop-valves are, more- 
over, to be opened and the safety-valves worked in the presence of the chief engineer 
of the ship. At the trial the power is to be maintained for at least the time specified ; 
the water service is to be confiued to the regular engine-room service, and the engines 
are to be in all respects ready and fit to continue running after the trial. Rangoon oil, 
which has been found to cake and choke the lubricating apertures, * * * is to be 
discarded, and Gallipoli oil exclusively used for the lubrication of the bearings. The 
mean power deduced from the half-hourly records of steam-pressures, revolutions, and 
vacuum, will be taken as the indicated horse-power developed on the trial; and it is 
requested that great care be observed that the diagrams represent the mean power as 
nearly as possible. * * * "It is to be distinctly understood that the presence of 
engineer officers for the charge or observation of stokers, or the presence of other offi- 
cers appointed by or on behalf of the admiralty to observe the results of the trials, does 
not in any way relieve the contractors, or the persons who have charge at the trials, 
from any responsibility in the care and management of the machinery and boilers." 
No banquets or entertainments are allowed to be given on board by contractors at the 
trials, " or on any other occasion." 

Full instructions are also given for a thorough examination of the machinery after 
the contractor's trial, so that the engines may be ready for the runs on the mile. This 



TRIALS OF BRITISH NAVAL VESSELS, ETC. 175 

trial, which is called the constructor's (as distinguished from the contractor's) or 
measured-mile trial, will not be held until after the ships are commissioned, and when 
all the legend weights are on board, so that the ship to be tried will have been brought 
down to her estimated draught. * * * Under the old arrangements for new 
ships it was customary to make six full-power runs and four half-boiler runs with and 
against the tide. By the new regulations the half-power runs have been abolished and 
two new features are to be introduced. Four runs are to be made at full power, four 
at two-thirds power, and four at one-third power, steam being obtained from the whole 
or part of the boilers as may be considered advisable. * * * Steam-pressure is 
to be maintained at a maximum in the boilers, the reduction in power being made 
with the expansion-valve only ; and while the reduced-speed runs are being made, the 
revolutions, pressures, &c, are to be kept as coustant as possible so as to develop 
nearly the same indicated horse-power throughout. Each trial at full and reduced 
power should be completed while the tide is running in one direction. * * * 
Stringent regulations are to be enforced with reference to the indicator-diagrams and 
the noting of the revolutions, which are to be taken by two counters and independent 
observers. * * * The turning capabilities of the ship are, as formerly, to be 
tried on the same dav as the measured-mile trial is made. * * * * * 

In reviewing the above, it may be questioned whether the system thus 
prescribed for testing the strength and power of motive machinery and 
the speed of a vessel be not seriously objectionable : it has been seen 
that the coal used on the trials is of the very best quality; that the fire- 
men employed are the best trained and most expert in the service; that 
the machinery is placed in the most complete order, and that under 
these conditions the engiues and boilers are forced to the utmost extent 
of their capabilities. ^Tow, it may reasonably be asked whether the 
excessive strain to which the machinery is subjected while undergoing 
this severe test does not leave weakness in some hidden parts, and is 
not the cause of defects subsequently exposed. Furthermore, as the 
engines can never under any possible conditions be worked at sea for 
any extended time up to the measured-mile speed, it may be asked what 
practical purpose is served by it except that of recording a speed 
never afterward attainable under any other conditions.* As proof of 

* Trials at the measured mile, when the greatest possible power is got out of a ves- 
sel's engines, furnish the best means that can be obtained for determining the relative 
speeds of different ships. The average speed that will be afterward obtained on long 
runs is less than this, but the percentage of reduction, so long as tke engines and boil- 
ers remain in good working order, and the bottom of the ship remains clean, is pretty 
uniform, aud is not difficult to estimate. Indeed, Mr. King himself * * * estimates 
the average speed of a vessel over a run of 24 hours at \\ knots per hour less than is 
given on the measured-mile trials. "We should put the reduction down at less than 
this, but, whatever it is, the average speed of a ship, when doing her best over a long 
run, can be pretty correctly inferred from the measured-mile speed. So far, however, 
from the engines being worked on the measured-mile trials beyond what is necessary, 
it is sometimes found that greater power is developed after the engines have been 
working for some time and have got thoroughly to their bearings, than is done on the 
measured mile. If trials were made under less stringent conditions than the usual 
measured-mile trials, the sources of error would be more numerous than now exist, as 
it would be extremely difficult to insure only a certain proportion of the maximum 
power being developed. Of course any falling off in a ship's speed from fouling, or 
from defects or deterioration in the eugines aud boilers, would be left out of account 
as much in one case as in the other. 

The measured-mile trials, by putting as great a strain on the machinery as possible, 
is most useful as a proof-test. At any rate, it is one of the chief objects of these trials 
to test the machinery as much as possible ; and by so doing the same plan is adopted 
as is usual in testing any other machinery or boilers, or any mechanical structures. 
Mr. King's objection would apply as strongly to testing any other material or mechan- 
ism beyond its ordinary working strain as to marine engines. But, as we have said, 
the power developed by the engines on the measured mile is sometimes exceeded under 
ordinary working conditions, so that as a test the measured-mile trials are certainly 
not unduly severe. — An English Naval Architect. 

In the foregoing "An English Naval Architect" has, perhaps, stated all that can be 
said in favor of the trial at the measured mile, but he makes a comparison fatal to hi3 
own argument when he adds that in testing the machinery as much as possible "the 
same plan is adopted as is usual in testing * * * boilers." No fact is better recog- 
nized than that many boilers have beeu destructively weakened by over testing. — 
J. YV. K. 



176 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

this, it may be instructive in regard to the speed of armored ships, to 
refer to the proceedings of the court-martial held at Devonport in Sep- 
tember, 1875, to inquire into the loss of Her Majesty's ship Vanguard 
by collision with a sister ship, the Iron Duke, off the coast of Ireland, 
September 1 of that year. 

The commanding officer of the Iron Duke, Captain Hickley, being 
sworn and examined, testified as follows to questions : 

768. It is stated in the steam -register that at 12.30 Iron Duke was going fifty-four 
revolutions ; what speed would that produce ? — Answer. Eight knots. 

769. And at 12.40, sixty revolutions ; what speed would that produce ? — Answer. 
Eight and one-half knots, or under. And I may refer to the log of the 23d of August, 
that on leaving Loch Swilly under full speed, to pick the squadron up, she was going 
eight and one-half knots at sixty revolutions. 

770. What was the state of the weather on that occasion ? — Answer. Very fine. 

******* 

816. How many revolutions do Iron Duke's engines go at their utmost speed — all 
boilers? — Answer. The only opportunity I had of judging was on the 23d of August, 
and on a short trial we had to test the engines ; sixty-three revolutions was the utmost 

we could get, with most indifferent stokers. 

******* 

J. D. Charter, engineer in Her Majesty's ship Iron Duke, being sworn 
and examined, testified as follows to questions: 

1076. What is the pitch of your screws f— Answer. Twenty -one feet. 

1077. What is the slip percentage in calm weather? — Answer. The slip varies ac- 
cording to the number of revolutions we are making. 

1078. Fixing your revolutions at sixty, what is the slip? — Answer. About 15 per 
cent. 

1079. Going at sixty revolutions with a screw of 21 feet pitch, what speed would that 
give ? — Answer. About ten and one-half knots. 

Taking the pitch of the screws and the revolutions as above given, it 
appears from the testimony of the captain of the ship that about 8.92 
knots was the maximum speed that could be obtained, by the Iron Duke, 
while from the testimony of Engineer Charter it would appear that a 
speed of about 11.02 knots was possible when working the engines to 
the utmost. 

Now, by referring to the tables of armored ships in this report it will 
be seen that the speed of the Iron Duke on the measured mile was 13.6 
knots. This great discrepancy could not be owing even in a small de- 
gree to foulness of the iron bottom (the bottom is not sheathed with 
wood), for, if so, the slip of the screw would have very largely exceeded 
15 per cent. 

It appears also, from the testimony given before the same court by 
the commanding officer of Her Majesty's ship Vanguard, Captain Daw- 
kins, that the maximum speed of that ship was nine knots or there- 
abouts. 

It may probably not be fair to make an abatement for the speed of 
all British armored ships in accordance with those sworn to for the Iron 
Duke and the Vanguard; but from the testimony in these two cases, we 
may reasonably conclude that a wide margin exists between the speeds 
of the ships at the measured-mile trials and the maximum speed that 
can be obtained when cruising at sea. 

The single case of the Voiage has been instanced as proof that a 
greater speed may be attained at sea than on the measured mile, that 
vessel having logged 15.38 knots on the six-hour trial, against 15 at 
the mile; but every engineer will recollect conditions any one of which 
might have brought about the exceptional action on the Voiage. 

The real speed of a ship is that recorded under full power at sea in 



TRIALS OF BRITISH NAVAL VESSELS, ETC. 177 

ordinary weather during 12 to 24 hours consecutively, and of this we 
have but little from any ships of the British navy.* 

In considering this subject it may be well to remember that the 
" indifferent stokers " referred to as being on board the Iron Duke, 
although inferior to those employed on the measured-mile trials, are far 
superior to the firemen that have been employed in our naval vessels 
within seven or eight years.t 

* We have no record of the Sultan-Bellerophon relative-speed trial of 24 hours in 1873. 

t These statements respecting the speeds of the Iron Duke and Vanguard are very 
untrustworthy, as the discrepancy between them shows ; and it must be remembered 
that not only were the stokers " most indifferent," but that the boilers of these ships 
were, at thetime referred to, six years old. — An English Naval, Architect. 

These are two excellent reasons given by "An English Naval Architect " why the 
speed at the measured mile cannot be maintained in general service : difference in 
stokers and difference in age of boilers ; many others could be given if it was consid- 
ered necessary.— J. W. K. 

12 k 



PERSONNEL OF THE BRITISH NAVY. 



The personnel of the British navy at this time, 1877, including all 
officers on the active list, enlisted men, boys, marines, and others, of all 
ranks and grades, and exclusive of retired officers, consists in the aggre- 
gate of 60,536 persons. 

The number of officers whose names are borne on the active list of 
the navy register, July, 1877, is as follows : 

EXECUTIVE OR LTNE OFFICERS. 

Admirals of the fleet 3 

Admirals 10 

Vice-admirals 16 

Rear- admirals 27 

Captains 174 

Commanders 205 

Lieutenants 800 

Sub-lieutenants 275 

Midshipmen 228 

Naval cadets 185 

Staff captains 11 

Staff commanders 93 

Navigating lieutenants 146 

Navigating sub-lieutenants 72 

Navigating midshipmen 4 

Total executive or line officers 2, 249 

ENGINEER OFFICERS. 

Chief inspectors of machinery 5 

Inspectors of machinery 5 

Chief engineers « 164 

Engineers 562 

Assistant engineers 137 

Total engineer officers 873 

MEDICAL OFFICERS. 

Directors-general 1 

Inspectors-general 5 

Deputy inspectors-general 12 

Fleet-surgeons 80 

Staff surgeons 125 

Surgeons 192 

Total medical officers 415 

PAY OFFICERS. 

Paymasters 263 

Assistant paymasters 233 

Total pay officers 496 

Chaplains 97 

Naval instructors 69 

178 



PERSONNEL OF THE BRITISH NAVY. 179 

WARRANT OFFICERS. 

Chief gunners 11 

Gunners 272 

Chief boatswains 24 

Boatswains 395 

Chief carpenters 10 

Carpenters 196 

Total warrant officers 908 

Total number of officers 5, 107 

The petty officers, seamen, &c, are distributed as follows: 

Effective, for general service : 

Seamen and others 20, 478 

Boys 3,131 

First reserve ships, including tenders : 

Seamen and others 1, 989 

Boys ... 269 

Gunnery and training-ships : 

Seamen and others 2, 467 

Boys 2,789 

Stationary ships : 

Seamen and boys 3, 422 

Surveying- vessels : 

Seamen and boys 334 

Troop-ships (imperial service) : 

Seamen and boys 747 

Store-ships and drill-ships : 

Seamen and boys 414 

Coast-guard service, on shore: 

Officers (warrant) 251 

Seamen and others 3, 983 

Troop-ships (Indian service) : 

Seamen and others 1, 155 

Total number of petty officers, seamen, &c 35, 124 

Total number of boys 6,305 

Total number of marines (including officers) 14,000 

Total 55,429 

Officers on active list 5, 107 

Grand total 60,536 

The number of ships in commission, officered and manned December 
1, 1877, consisted of 27 armored and 222 unarmored, of all classes; total 
number, 249, representing an aggregate tonnage displacement of prob- 
ably not less than 575,000, and an aggregate indicated horse-power of 
fully 385,000. 

COST OF MAINTAINING THE NAVY. 

The total amount appropriated for purposes of all kinds for the finan- 
cial year 1875-'76 was $52,964,400. For the financial year 187G-'77 the 
total amount was $54,862,918, and the estimates for which the votes 
were given for 1877-78 amounted to the sum total of $53,361,970, dis- 
tributed as follows : 



i 



180 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



No. 



18 
5 

14 
153 
994 
463 
858 
317 
560 



30,890 
6, 305 
3,983 



166 
2,095 



185 

320 

13, 495 



204 



PAY OF OFFICERS ON THE ACTIVE LIST. 

Flag officers 

Flag officers, superintendents of dock-yards, &c. 

Flag-lieutenants 

Enlisted men and others, retinue to above 

Commissioned and other officers 

Subordinate officers - 

Warrant officers 

Officers of coast-guard, on shore 

Unemployed officers (half-pay) 



Total. 



PAY OF MEN. 



Enlisted men 
Boys 



Enlisted men of coast-guard, on shore 
Total 



Officers on reserved list 

Officers on retired list 

Victuals and clothing for men and boys. 



Total of pay of officers, also pay, victuals, and 
clothing of men 



MARINE CORPS. 



Staff officers 

Commissioned officers. 
Enlisted men 



Total. 



Officers on the retired list 

Victuals and clothing for men. 



Total of pay of officers, also pay, victuals, and 
clothing of men 



Extra pay and allowances to officers and men for special 
service's, good conduct, &c 



Pay. 



$211,881 



3, 804, 272 



250, 689 
550, 949 



4, 960, 665 
305, 854 
644, 946 



253, 070 

113,418 

1, 593, 691 



Allowances, 



$122,112 



274, 541 



299, 182 

2,076 

29,296 



191, 027 



1 . Grand total for pay, & c 

2. Pensions and allowances 

3. A dmiralty office 

4. Coast-guard service $241, 838 

Royal naval reserves, &c 768, 556 

5. Scientific branch 

€. Dock-yards $4, 596, 078 

Cost of labor for building and completing ships at dock-yards 1,924,487 



Victualing yards , 

Medical establishments 

Medicines and medical stores 

Marine divisions (bai racks, &c.) 

Naval stores 

Steam-machimry and ships building by contract: 

Ships and machinery building by contract $1, 916, 274 

Steam-machinery for vessels at dock-yards 2, 092, 011 

Hydraulic and steam machinery, fittings for turrets, and torpedo ma- 
chinery 316, 386 

Repairs of ships other than at yards 145, 800 

Purchase of torpedoes 388, 800 

Boats to be ordered 34,596 

Experimental purposes 73, 143 

Breaking up ships, boilers, and machinery 29, 160 

Traveling and other expenses of officers and others superintending the 
building of ships by contract, and other works 68, 040 

New works, buildings, machinery, and repairs 

Martial law and law charges 

Miscellaneous services 

Army department (conveyance of troops) 



Grand total 



Total. 



$5, 214, 444 



6, 242, 019 

193, 375 
2, 673, 345 
4, 704, 733 



19, 027, 



2, 151, 206 

292, 169 
1, 023, 312 



558, 584 



23, 053, 187 

5, 054, 016 

942, 305 



1, 010, 394 
529, 750 



6, 520, 565 
373, 880 
321, 489 
379, 129 
103, 596 

5, 867, 478 



5, 064, 120 

2, 652, 175 

39, 594 

632, 451 

817,841 

53. 361, 970 



FJ^ttT XIII. 



BRITISH NAVAL DOCK-YAEDS. 

PORTSMOUTH; CHATHAM; DEVONPORT AND KEYHAM; SHEER- 

NESS; PEMBROKE. 

ADMINISTRATION OF DOCK-YAEDS. 

THE SUPERINTENDENT; MASTER ATTENDANT; CHIEF CONSTRUCTOR; 
CHIEF ENGINEER; STOREKEEPER; ACCOUNTANT; CASHIER; CIVIL 
ENGESTEER ; WORKMEN AND BOYS ; POLITICAL ; PAY ; POLICE ; PEN- 
SIONS: REMARKS. 



181 



BRITISH XAVAL DOCK-YARDS. 



The naval dock-yards of Great Britain are five in number, viz: Ports- 
mouth, near the Chauuel; Chatham, on the river Medway; Devon port 
and Keybam, on the southwest coast; Sheerness, at the junction of the 
Thames and Medway; and Pembroke, on the coast of South Wales. 
These yards have been described by the writer in a former report, printed 
by order of Congress; but since that time the Woolwich yard has been 
abandoned for naval purposes, the yard at Deptford has been turned 
over to the victualing department, and Portsmouth and Chatham yards 
have been largely extended and the facilities greatly increased. A brief 
description, therefore, of the five first named will be given. 

POETSMOUTH. 

The Portsmouth dock-yard is located near the English Channel. It 
is fortified, and the approaches to it are well covered. The series of 
forts which have been years in building for its defense have recently 
been completed, and last summer a number of 38-ton, 12£-inch, Wool- 
wich guns were mounted in them. These guns are worked and loaded 
entirely by the hydraulic system of Kendel, and, it is said, may be fired 
at the rate of a round in a minute and a half. It possesses a capacious 
natural harbor, and, in respect to position, extent of ground covered, 
and number and capacity of basins, docks, buildings, and appliances of 
all kinds for building, repairing, and equipping ships of war, has occu- 
pied the foremost place among English dock-yards. In 1864 the first 
appropriation was made by Parliament for its extension and improve- 
ment, and, with the aid of liberal votes, since that time the work has 
been steadily progressing. The plan, which has been omitted here, but 
may be found in the first edition of this report, will show the extent and 
character of the new works since their commencement in 1865; also, a 
portion of the old dock -yard. That portion of the old yard not shown 
on the plan, but containing buildings, lies south of the steam-basin; and 
south of dock No. 6 is the ship-basin with its four stone docks. There 
is also another stone dock south of the ship-basin, with its inlet from 
the harbor. The old yard contains two basins and eleven stone dry- 
docks, and, as it has been one of the chief seats of manufactures for the 
royal navy, a brief description of its principal workshops may be found 
instructive. 

On the northeast side of the old yard is the steam-basin, the basin in 
which steam-machinery is put into or taken out of vessels, or where 
general machinery repairs are carried on. The entrance to the steam- 
basin is from the harbor, through the camber, or dry-dock No. 7, here- 
after to be mentioned. On the eastern end of the basin is located a pair 
of wrought-iron steam-operating box-shears, 145 feet high, designed 
chiefly for hoisting and lowering boilers out of or into vessels. The 
shears have two main purchases and one crab, with engines to each ; 
these, together with the boiler, are located at a convenient distance from 
the basin. On the same side of the basin there is, in addition, one lar^e 
Fairbairn steam-crane, having the boiler and engines attached. Besides 

183 



184 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

these appliances for raising and lowering weights, there are on the bor- 
ders of the basin five Fairbairn cranes, operated by manual labor. On 
the east side of the basin are the dry-docks, No. 8 and No. 11 ; the 
first 300 feet, and the second nearJy 400 feet long, measured on the 
bottoms. On the west side of the basin, and parallel with its greatest 
length, are the machine, boiler, erecting, and copper shops, in one build- 
ing, under one roof. The building, like others in Portsmouth dock-yard, 
is of brick. It is 720 feet long by 40 feet wide, measured inside, and 
two stories high. Entering the first or lower story, the height of which 
is 28 feet, it is found to be divided by cross-walls into five equal com- 
partments. The boiler-shop and boiler-making machines occupy three 
of the north divisions. The divisions are conveniently arranged and 
well stocked with a variety of superior machinery, tools, and appliances 
of the present day. The division adjoining the boiler-shops is occupied 
exclusively as a machine-erecting shop. It has but one traveling crane, 
a few heavy machines, and the usual mechanical appliances. The next 
or north division, on the ground floor, is the machine-shop for heavy 
work. It is provided with traveling cranes, and stocked with heavy 
machinery and tools. Ascending to the second floor of the building, the 
machine-shop is first reached, which is provided with the usual machinery 
and tools for fitting and finishing light work j and afterward the copper- 
smith-shop, the chemical and store rooms. It may be added that the 
building containing the various shops just named was built originally 
for a store-house, and is therefore not altogether such a building as 
would have been designed for the various purposes. 

On the south side of the basin are the iron and brass founderies, the 
pattern-shops, offices, and drawing-rooms. The iron-foundery is 200 feet 
long by 45 feet wide, with 30 feet height from the floor to the bottom of 
the overhead cranes. The building is of brick, with an iron-frame roof, 
slated. It is well lighted, and the internal arrangements and appliances 
are complete. It contains overhead travelers ; also wall-cranes. The 
cupolas are conveniently placed, and there are hydraulic lifts for raising 
stock to the platforms. At right angles with this building is another, 
of equal dimensions, two stories high. On the lower floor of this build- 
ing are the foundery cleaning-rooms and foundery store-rooms. On the 
upper floor are the pattern-shop and pattern store-room in separate 
divisions. The pattern-shop proper occupies the larger portion of the 
floor, and is excellent in its detail of arrangement. A complete number 
of wood- working machines are arranged on one side of the room, and the 
work-benches on the opposite side. The pattern-shop storage-room has 
a complete distribution of patterns. They are contained in cases with 
iron frames and supports, each case having its special patterns so 
marked, and each pattern its special mark in plain letters. The brass- 
foundery is also excellent. It is one story high, 105 feet long by 85 feet 
wide, divided longitudinally by a wall with a center opening, in which 
are located the cupolas and air-furnaces, arranged to discharge the 
metal into the division prepared for making the heaviest castings. In 
the opposite division are the crucible furnaces. This foundery is the 
largest and most complete of its kind in any of the dock-yards, and in 
it are made heavy brass castings for other yards. Drawings of both 
founderies have been submitted to the department. 

On the west side of the machine and boiler shops are the smithery 
and forge. These occupy a large brick building, with a metal roof, and 
well lighted from the sides. It contains about 120 smithy fires, ranged 
in a quadrangle, with separate pipes from each pair of fires to carry oft 
the smoke and gases. The forge is amply supplied with steam-hammers, 



BRITISH NAVAL DOCK-YARDS. 185 

furnaces, cranes, and appliances for ordinary work. Heavy shafts are 
not made in dock-yards. Besides this sinithery, there is a smaller one 
on the south side of the basin. 

This concludes notice of the works denominated steam factories, and 
no more need be said of them beyond the fact that they are of insufficient 
capacity, and the location of some of the buildings is objectionable. An 
additional building is, however, being erected next adjoining the ma- 
chine and boiler shops as an extension, and a new factory is projected to 
be built in the not distant future. 

The next building that claims attention is the one containing the 
block-making machinery invented by the celebrated engineer, I. K. 
Brunei. This machinery is the most complete in detail of the several 
machines for making different parts of blocks; it is perfect in combina- 
tion, and up to the present day has not been superseded or surpassed^ 
by it the wooden blocks for all vessels of the royal navy have been 
made for more than forty years. The only other building for mechan- 
ical purposes to be noticed is the saw-mill, which is two stories high, the 
lower floors containing all the usual sawing-machines, while the upper 
floors are provided with machines for light work. 

Keturning to the notice of the dry-docks, it is observed that leading 
from the steam-basin to the harbor, in a southwesterly direction, is the 
camber, the large dry -dock spoken of before. It is 644 feet long on the 
bottom, and has three gates: one at the harbor entrance, one in the 
center, and one at the basin outlet. This arrangement admits of its 
being used as two docks or one, as may be desired. The other is the 
ship-basin, south of the camber, with an outlet directly from the harbor. 
It is used chiefly for placing vessels in to be fitted for sea or to be docked. 
Attached to it are four dry-docks, namely, Nos. 2', 3', 4 7 , and 5'. These 
docks were constructed in the days when ships of war were of short 
dimension. Thev are of the following lengths, all measured on the bot- 
toms : No. 2' is 220 feet 1 inch ; No. 3', 270 feet 8 inches ; No. 4', 285 
feet 4 inches ; and No. 5', 208 feet 9 inches. South of the basin is dry- 
dock No. 1', with inlet from the harbor; its length on the bottom is 229 
feet 4 inches. North of the basin is dry-dock No. 6', also with inlet from 
the harbor ; its length on the bottom is 192 feet 8 inches. Dry-dock 
No. 9' is in the northwest corner of the dock-yard ; its length is 253 
feet 4 inches, measured on the bottom. All the docks, building-slips, 
and basins are formed of granite blocks, and are constructed in the 
most substantial manner. 

Between dry-dock No. 9' and the camber are the building-slips, which 
are five in number. They are in a group, covered with substantial and 
well-lighted ship-houses ; between some of them, in a line with the ves- 
sels building, are overhead traveling cranes and steam-hoisting appli- 
ances for raising materials to the vessels under construction. 

Having now briefly described the buildings and appliances in which 
the principal mechanical operations are carried on, it will only be neces- 
sary to name some of the other buildings and localities, and to add that 
all of the former have heavy walls and are capacious and sufficiently 
substantial. These places may be best mentioned in order. No. 1, 
boiler-house ; and No. 3, office ; No. 7, engine-house, containing engines 
and boilers for pumping out the docks ; No. 10, guard and storehouses ; 
and No. 12, police-station ; Nos. 13 and 14, store-houses ; and Nos. 15, 
10, and 17, timber-sheds and wood-work shops; No. 18, officers' houses, 
in which reside all the principal officers of the yard ; and No. 19, admi- 
ral-superintendent's house; Nos. 20 and 21, store-houses ; and No. 22, 
building for officers; No. 23, tar-making house; No. 24, water-tank; 



186 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

and No. 25, rope-making house ; No. 26, mast-making house ; No. 27, 
boat-pond, or water area, in which ships' boats are floated ; No. 28, store- 
houses; No. 29, rigging and sail loft; No. 30, chain and cable store; 
No. 33, gate entrance to the dock-yard. 

Such is a brief description of the Portsmouth dock-yard of the pres- 
ent day. What its future is to be may be best seen from the plan men- 
tioned, showing the proposed extension and works completed thereon. 

CHATHAM. 

This dock-yard is situated on the river Medway, about twelve miles 
from the mouth of the Thames. It has now grown in importance to be 
second only to Portsmouth among the naval dock-yards of the world. 
The position is advantageous, because, not being on the coast, but far 
up the river, to be reached by a hostile fleet the defenses of Sheerness 
must first be passed ; secondly, the Medway, from Sheerness to Chat- 
ham, has the natural protection of high land on both sides, readily con- 
vertible into positions of defense. A chain of forts is to be constructed 
for the defense of the dock-yard, the Medway, and the London ap- 
proaches ; one of the forts is already in process of construction at Bor- 
sted, near .Rochester, and another will be built at Cookham Hill. In 
all there are to be seven forts of a massive character, and to be armed 
with heavy artillery. 

The old dock-yard proper has a considerable river frontage, and the 
several docks, ship-houses, buildings, and necessary avenues cover an 
area of 89 acres. By a vote of Parliament in 1863, St. Mary's Island, 
adjoining the yard, was appropriated, and in the following year the 
works of extension on it were commenced. This island contains about 
300 acres, and the place having been somewhat analogous to League 
Island before the work of extension was commenced, lessons may be 
drawn from a study of its hydrographical features. 

The work of extension was commenced in 1864, and the plan in the 
first edition of this report will show the progress made up to January, 1875. 
The total estimated cost of the work was £1,750,000 sterling, but it is 
now seen by the memoranda of the director of works of 1875-'76 that 
the total ultimate cost of the whole will be not less than £1,950,000, or 
$9,477,000 gold. A very large part of the work has been executed by 
contract and a small portiou by convict labor. The above does not in- 
clude any sum for the erection of buildings. The director gives as rea- 
sons for the ultimate cost exceeding the estimates, the extremely treach- 
erous character of the soil, a large portion of the work having been ex- 
ecuted in mud, water, and alluvial deposits, of very varying tenacity, at 
a great depth below the surface. The plan mentioned does not show 
docks or buildings of the old dock-yard. In describing them, therefore, 
as at present existing, it may be premised that there are no basins or 
works denominated steam factories, but for the construction of vessels 
there is ample provision. Fronting the river are four dry-docks and 
seven building-slips. The first and largest is of sufficient capacity to 
take in a vessel 390 feet long, and the second, one of 295 feet. The third 
and fourth are comparatively small. The dry-docks and slips are exca- 
vated from soft ground, but piled, and then built throughout with gran- 
ite blocks, in a similar manner to those in the other British dock-yards. 

The building-slips are all covered with substantial ship-houses, four 
of which are grouped side by side, having the appearance of one build- 
ing roofed in four spans. They are constructed solely of iron and glass, 
afford ample light, and will endure, there being no danger of their 
destruction by fire. 



BRITISH NAVAL DOCK- YARDS. 187 

In the intermediate spaces from slip to slip is a sufficient area to pre- 
pare materials for vessels building, the whole neatly paved or laid with 
wooden blocks, making a dry, hard, and comfortable floor, both to work 
on and travel over. 

The ship-houses are provided with overhead traveling carriages, suf- 
ficiently elevated to be above the largest vessels constructed. These 
carriages travel from end to end of the building, and are adapted to 
pick up material from the ground and carry it to and place it in any 
part of the vessel. There is also a traveling carriage between two of 
the slips adjoining that last mentioned, used for the purpose of moving 
timber which has been or is to be prepared. There are, in addition, 
minor facilities for the purpose of carrying materials to or from the ves- 
sels under construction. The want of basins in the Chatham dock- 
yard has always been a great inconvenience, the fitting and repairing 
of vessels taking place in the river, where the rise and fall of the tides 
is considerable and the room insufficient. This want is now supplied 
at the new yard. As before stated, there are as yet no steam factories 
in the yard, but there is an old ordinary machine-shop, two stories high,* 
there is also a small ordinary iron-foundery, containing two medium- 
sized and one small cupola, a small brass-foundery, pattern-shop, and 
boiler-repairing shop. All these shops are used merely for jobbing pur- 
poses. The ship smithery, constructed many years ago, is a brick 
building, iu the form of a quadrangle, with an open middle court, each 
of its sides being about 250 feet in length • the plan of the building is 
good, and if properly lighted and ventilated, with a simple plan of car- 
rying off the smoke and gas, the shop would be unobjectionable. The 
various other buildings and workshops in this dock-yard are, with two 
exceptions, nearly identical with those named or described as existing 
in the other royal dock-yards, the exceptions being a copper-rolling mill 
and saw-mill ; attached to the latter is an oar-making machine, which 
turns out all the oars for the boats of the British navy. The copper- 
rolling mill contains the furnaces, machinery, and appliances for the 
manufacture of sheathing and bolts * it has turned out all the sheath- 
ing for the bottoms of the vessels of the navy. Iu addition to the 
copper-rolling machinery, &c, there are rolls and facilities for the manu- 
facture of small-sized angle and bar iron. 

DEVONPORT AND KEYHAM. 

The dockyards of Devouport and Keyham are situated ou the 
southwest coast of England, and are employed principally as repair- 
ing yards. 

Devouport dock-yard has existed for more than a century, aud it was 
supposed to answer all the requirements of the line-of-battle sailing- 
ship period. But after the introduction of steam, it was thought de- 
sirable to create an entirely new dock-yard, namely, Keyham, which is 
three-quarters of a mile distant from Devonport. Both dock-yards are 
connected under ground by a tunnel, and one general superintendence 
controls the two. Devonport has been chiefly the department of wooden- 
ship building, storage, &c, while Keyham is the department of steam- 
machinery repairs and manufactures • the latter alone invites attention. 
Besides, as Keyham is a modern dock-yard, established not more than 
twenty years, its factories are greater iu extent and more complete in 
detail than those of any other dock-yard in England or France. 

Keyham dock-yard contains two basins and four dry-docks. The 
north basin is of sufficient depth to take in vessels of any size afloat. 



188 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

Around the basin are all the needful mechanical appliances for raising 
weights to or from vessels. The south basin is entered from the harbor 
and also from the north basin. It possesses three attached dry-docks, 
one of which is 600 feet in length. As a matter of convenience, to 
facilitate the movement of weights to and from the vessels in dock, 
rail-tracks extend parallel with either side of the dock, while traveling 
steam-cranes, with boilers and engines attached, pass up and down the 
tracks and perform the work of carrying material to or from the vessels 
under repair or fitting out. One of the rails or this either side track is 
laid directly on the edge of the top surface of the dock, and the other 
on beams projecting over the edge and supported by uprights ; the 
cranes are thus brought within reaching distance of the vessels. The 
other two dry-docks differ only in length and in the absence of mechan- 
ical facilities for raising weights. 

The machine- works, founderies, smitheries, boiler-making and pattern 
shops, copper-making and tin shops (which in Great Britain are all de- 
nominated steam factories), are the chief features of Keyham dock-yard. 
They are grouped together in a quadrangle 890 feet long by 5S0 feet 
wide. The center area of the group is a space substantially covered 
with a slate roof, supported ou cast-iron columns and lighted from the 
top. The covered center area is formed into divisions by seven longi- 
tudinal rows of columns. Rail-tracks extend through two of the divis- 
ions of the buildings, and provision exists for steam traveling cranes. 
The whole of the covered center area admits of being appropriated for 
workshops, and some of it has been partitioned off and so appropriated. 
Within these appropriations are the smithery and forge, the copper- 
smiths' shop and the boiler-making smiths' shop, the smithery aud l'orge 
occupying a division at the south end. 

SHEERNESS. 

This dock-yard is rated as second class, and is employed as a repairing 
and fitting-out yard. There are not any extensive steam factories in it, 
and it contaius only one building-slip for the construction of small ves- 
sels. There are, however, three basins and five dry-docks, and all neces- 
sary facilities for repairing and equipping vessels for sea. 

PEMBROKE. 

This dock-yard, located on the coast of South Wales, is employed ex- 
clusively as a building-yard for hulls and accessories of hulls. Some of 
the heaviest armored ships have been built here. 

Briefly described, such are the dock yards of the British navy. Any 
one of them is worthy of an inspection, and in some the tout ensemble is 
imposing. The number of stone dry-docks at present completed in the 
five yards is thirty-seven. The number of building-slips having ship- 
houses over them is thirty-one, and the several basius have an aggre- 
gate water- area of about 130 acres. 

Neither ordnance nor provisions are supplied from the dock-yards. 
The armaments for all vessels of the navy, as well as for fortifications 
and the army, are manufactured and supplied from the great arsenal at 
Woolwich. Provisions for the ships at home are supplied from the vict- 
ualing-yards at Deptford, Gosport, Plymouth, and Haulbowline. 

In addition to the large naval dock-yard facilities, the British govern- 
ment can in emergencies command any of the private iron-ship building 



BRITISH NAVAL DOCK- YARDS. 189 

yards on the Clyde, the Tyne, the Mersey, the Thames, and other rivers, 
numbering in the aggregate about fifty; also as many engine-factories 
in the kingdom as may be desired, besides any number of stone dry- 
docks belonging to private companies. 

ADMINISTRATION OF BRITISH NAYAL DOCK- YARDS. 

The administration of the dock-yards is conducted under the system 
of civil employment. The officer in charge of each yard is called the 
superintendent. The term "command" or " commanding officer" is on 
no occasion used, and there is no " aid or executive officer V to the super- 
intendent. 

After the superintendent, the principal officers of the yard are named 
in the order of precedence as follows : 

The master attendant. 

The chief constructor. 

The chief engineer. 

The assistant master attendant. 

The storekeeper. 

The accountant. 

The cashier. 

The superintending civil engineer. 

The chaplain. 

The surgeon. 

THE SUPERINTENDENT 

in the largest yards is a rear-admiral, and in the small yards he is a 
captain. He has full and complete authority over all officers and other 
persons whomsoever, employed in the dock-yard, and control over every 
part of the business carried on therein. In his absence the captain of 
the reserve is charged with the duties, and in the absence of both these 
officers, "the other officers are authorized to take charge of the yard, 
according to precedence on the list above named." The duties of every 
officer, foreman, and other person having authority are defined in great 
detail in the admiralty dock-yard instructions. 

The superintendent is required to hold at his office every working day, 
at 9£ o'clock a. m., a meeting of the officers above named (chaplain and 
surgeon excepted), and to have read to them all orders and dispatches, 
except such as may be marked confidential. At this meeting the cap- 
tain of the steam reserve is also to be present. 

Besides this method of promptly making all the principal officers 
daily acquainted with the business to be done, each one is furnished 
when necessary with copies, or extracts therefrom, of the orders pertain- 
ing to his respective department. 

MASTER ATTENDANT. 

The duties of the master attendant are denned. He is to attend to 
the docking, grounding, and graving of all ships, by day or night. He 
has charge of the moorings at the port, of all the yard craft, consisting 
of tugs and vessels of all kinds, including coal-hulks. He attends to 
the loadiug of stores, he superintends the sail-loft, rigging-house, and 
all persons employed therein, besides having other duties connected with 
vessels ; but he has nothing whatever to do with any mechanical depart- 
ment, or persons employed in them. His rank is staff captain, and in 
the largest yards he has one and sometimes two assistants. 



190 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC 

CHIEF CONSTRUCTOR. 

He is to cause all ships and vessels to be built and all work to be 
executed in strict accordance with the approved drawings and specifica- 
tions. He has charge of the shipwrights and other workmen belonging 
to the ship-building branch. He has the direction of the boatswain and 
laborers under him. He has charge of the ship smithery, mast-house, 
boat-house, joiners' shop, and all other workshops appertaining to the 
shipbuilding branch, and all foremen and workmen employed therein. 
His assistant is a constructor; but in the absence of the chief con- 
structor, the chief engineer is charged with his duties. 

THE CHIEE ENGINEER 

has the superintendence of all the engines and boilers, cranes, shears, 
capstans, leading-blocks, turn-tables, weigh-bridges, and pumps in the 
dock-yard, also the machinery at the smitheries and saw-mills, and all 
other machinery in the yard. He is charged with the superintendence 
of the ropery, and all persons employed therein, and is responsible for 
the steam fire-engines used for supplying water in case of fire. 

The foremen of the engineering workshops have, under their directions 
and those of their assistants, charge of the men and all the work carried 
on therein and on board vessels under repairs. These foremen are 
answerable for the conduct of the leading-men and workmen employed 
under them, and responsible for all work intrusted to their supervision. 

In the absence of the chief engineer, his first assistant is charged 
with the duties. 

STOREKEEPER. 

There is but one storekeeping officer to a dock-yard. He has charge 
of all store-houses, receiving-rooms, plank-sheds, and other inclosures 
used for the storage of timber or goods. He gives receipts for all stores 
received, and takes receipts for all stores delivered, and is responsible 
for all articles in store, and that the accounts in relation thereto be cor- 
rectly kept. 

ACCOUNTANT. 

He is to audit the amount paid for wages to the workmen and all 
other employes, such audit to comprise a verification of the accuracy of 
the authorities for the entry of each person on the muster and pay books, 
the rates of pay, the amounts cast up as due, and a comparison of the 
casualties of attendance recorded in the muster and pay books with 
those in the weekly returns of lost and extra time. 

CASHIER. 

Under his directions all workmen and laborers employed in the dock- 
yard are mustered by persons attached to his department, and the sev- 
eral timekeepers are placed in charge of the muster- galleries according 
to his assignment. Besides which, all other responsible duties neces- 
sarily belonging to such an office are discharged by him. 

CIVIL ENGINEER. 

The dry-docks, basins, and other important public works are con- 
structed from plans prepared at Whitehall by the director, who is a col- 



BRITISH NAVAL DOCK- YARDS. 191 

one! of the royal engineers. The civil engineer attached to the yard has 
charge of the architectural works, buildings, and houses, alterations 
and repairs of existing buildings and works, also the supply of water 
and gas, and the maintenance and management of the lines of railways 
in the dock-yard to which he is attached. 

WORKMEN AND BOYS. 

Two classes of workmen are employed, distinct from the various 
classes and grades in such establishments. One of these is termed 
" established men," and the other " hired men." The former are per- 
manent, are not discharged except in cases of great emergency, and 
are pensioned after long and faithful service. 

Great care is exercised in the selection of all workmen and boys. 
u The superintendent is strictly enjoined to give his active personal at- 
tention to the subject of the entry of men when wanted, with a view to 
prevent any abuse or irregularity ; he is to use his best endeavors to 
check and prevent any attempts being made to support applications 
for employment in the yard by aid of interest either political or per- 
sonal." The best men are to be taken, and they are entered on proba- 
tion for a fortnight, with the understanding that they will be retained 
if at the end of the prescribed period they shall have proved themselves 
competent, but if otherwise, they are discharged. 

Established men are received between the ages of twenty-one and 
thirty-five only. They must be passed by the medical officers, and 
thoroughly tested as to their qualifications as workmen before their ap- 
pointments are confirmed. These men are eligible to promotion as lead- 
ing-men, foremen, &c. 

Boys are selected by competitive examination, and thoroughly tested 
before being made permanent. Hired meu are also selected with much 
care, but they are liable to discharge in the event of the reduction of 
force. 

POLITICAL. 

Under the heading of " Rules for workmen " (dock-yard instructions) 
is the following paragraph : 

No interference, direct or indirect, is to be exerted over any person, whatever be his 
rank or station, in the matter of the elective franchise ; and in the event of elections 
for members of Parliament, the men who may be qualified to vote are to be left to the 
exercise of their unbiased judgment, free from all influence, inquiry, let or hinderance ; 
and no canvassing by or on the part of any candidate is to be permitted within the 
dock-yard upon any pretense whatever. 

The pay of all employes is regulated by the admiralty ; it is the same 
for each class or grade of men in every dock-yard, and it is not changed 
to suit varied conditions. The working-hours are regulated by Green- 
wich time, and are also the same in every yard. The muster of men is 
by ticket, both when entering and leaving the yard. 

POLICE. 

No marines or watchmen are employed in any dock-yard. The com- 
missioner of the metropolitan police of London details a force of intel- 
ligent and well-trained men, sufficient for each yard. These men are 
under the orders of the superintendent, and are stationed at the gate 
and at such other judiciously-chosen places in the yard as the superin- 



192 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

tendent may direct. They perform all the duties of watching the public 
property in the dock-yard, and on board vessels building, and at the 
wharves, both by day and night. They wear the uniform of the London 
police, perform their duties thoroughly, and are highly respected. 

PENSIONS. 

All officers, clerks, foremen, leading-men, established workmen, and 
crews of the yard craft are granted pensions, retiring allowances, or gra- 
tuities, according to pay and length of service. Ten years' service will 
entitle a man to a pension or superannuation for injuries received, and 
after forty years' service he is allowed to retire with forty- sixtieths of 
his full pay, intermediate rates being graduated between these ac- 
cordingly. 

All the principal officers and clerks must be superannuated on attain- 
ing the age of seventy years, and all inferior officers and workmen are 
superannuated on attaining the age of sixty years. 

All the principal officers of each yard are provided with most com- 
fortable houses inside the walls, taking precedence therefor as they are 
named on the foregoing list. 

The superintendent wears the uniform of his rank, but no profes- 
sional officer wears a uniform on any occasion whatever. 

The number of persons employed in each of the principal dock-yards 
averages from 7,000 to 8,000 ; about 1,500 of whom are under the super- 
vision of the engineer department. 

No foreigner is permitted to enter any of Her Britannic Majesty's 
dock-yards without authority given by the admiralty through applica- 
tion of the embassador or minister of the country to which the person 
belongs, made to the secretary of state for foreign affairs, naval 
attaches of the foreign embassies in London excepted. Foreigners, in- 
cluding officers, whether singly or in parties, are always accompanied 
throughout the periods of their visits by an officer detailed for the pur- 
pose, and while all necessary attention is given, and every proper 
facility is afforded for viewing the works and ships under construction, 
sketches or written notes are not allowed to be taken except by special 
permission. 

The system of dock-yard administration very briefly sketched in the 
foregoing paragraphs is the best in existence. 

The superintendent and principal officers are selected especially for 
their fitness, and not because they may have claims for shore-duty or 
otherwise. The inferior officers and workmen are employed solely on 
their merits, and are mainly well trained, efficient, and faithful ; besides 
which, the permanence of employment adds stability and gives charac- 
ter to the whole staff of employes. 

One tamiliar and experienced as I am with dock-yard duties and with 
workshops generally, at home and abroad, cannot but feel impressed 
on observing the prompt and business-like way in which the duties are 
carried on in these great British naval establishments No idle officers 
or loitering persons are to be seen in any place within one of these 
yards at auy time during working-hours. 

The contrast between these admirably-conducted establishments and 
those of France and other continental countries, Germany excepted, is 
noticeable soon after entering the gates; there, and especially in France, 
numerous idle officers in uniform and loitering workmen may be seen 
in every department entered. 



FJ^ttT XIII 



THE FRENCH NAVY. 

TABLE OF ARMORED SHIPS OF FRANCE; TABLE OF VESSELS 
BUILDING AND PROPOSED FOR THE FRENCH NAVY IN 1877; 
DOCK-YARDS OF CHERBOURG, BREST, L'ORIENT, ROCHE- 
FORT, AND TOULON; PERSONNEL OF THE NAVY. 



13 K 



193 



THE FRENCH NAVY. 



i 



Frenchmen have of late been compelled to assume the attitude of 
critical observers, if not of careful imitators of other naval powers, and 
particularly of England. 

Driven by stress of circumstances and by force of competition from 
the proud position so long occupied and so eagerly contended for, of 
pioneers in armored-ship construction, they have had the wisdom and 
courage fairly to face their position, and to endeavor to make the best 
of the condition in which they are placed. With their earlier armored 
ships growing obsolete, and rapidly becoming worn out or unservicea- 
ble, and with very limited means at command, the naval authorities in 
France had no easy problem to solve when they endeavored to give the 
best direction to their expenditure in the new programme of the fleets, 
which was published with their estimates soon after the worst pressure 
of the Franco-German war had passed away. In arranging this new 
building programme, English types, more or less modified, but in the 
main reproduced, have been taken as models, and English systems of 
construction have been adopted in lieu of the discarded wood-ship build- 
ing which previously was almost exclusively in use. Breastwork-moni- 
tors for coast defense, central-battery armored ships with iron hulls 
(with added barbette-batteries), fast unarmored ships with iron hulls, 
sheathed in wood and coppered, constitute the last additions to the 
French navy. 

In reviewing their fleets, it is seen that they have perpetuated not 
merely the forms and approximate dimensions of their unarmored steam- 
fleet in their armored ships, but have also clung pertinaciously to the 
old broadside system of armament. Not a sea-going turret-ship has 
been built. 

Their coast-defense vessels (garde- cotes) include six turret-vessels, each 
with a single turret; but all the other vessels in the armored fleet are 
on the broadside principle, and all sea-goiug ships are rigged. There 
are no representatives of the mastless sea-going type to match the Eng- 
lish Dreadnought, Devastation, Thunderer, and Inflexible, or the Kussian 
Peter the Great, or the Italian Dailio or Dandolo, or analogous vessels of 
other nations. The revolving turret has found no favor with the French 
for sea-going ships, although they have adopted, in many cases in asso- 
ciation with a broadside armament, the plan of mounting the gun on a 
revolving platform, and allowing it to fire en barbette over a fixed armor 
wall or turret. There are in the large ships two of these open-topped 
turrets on either side of the vessel, and, true to their national instinct 
of systematic classification, they laid down simultaneously many ships 
of one design, or differing but in minor details. First of all, in 1858 
three of the Gloire class were begun, corresponding to the English con- 
verted ship Prince Consort class, begun three years later; then, after the 
iron ship Couronne, no less than ten vessels of the Flandre class, modi- 
fied from the Gloire and not much better, were commenced; while some 
slight variety was introduced by building a few coast-defense vessels. 

In the design of their smaller vessels (corvettes cuirassees) for foreign 

105 



196 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

service, similar uniformity was maintained.- After building tbe first, 
the Belliqueuse, some few changes were made, and then on the amended 
design (of which tbe Alma is the type) no less than ten vessels were 
built. 

The Ocean class of frigates, again, contains no less than five, which 
may be fairly termed sister ships. So, taking the three classes repre- 
sented by the Flandre, Alma, and Ocean, more than twenty-five ships, or 
nearly one-half the entire French fleet, will be found grouped therein. 

The English admiralty have pursued a different and a wiser course. 
Instead of spending their great resources on the construction of ships 
which were mere facsimiles of each other, they have, with rare excep- 
tions, in successive designs made onward steps in offensive and defen- 
sive power; from the very first the English designers struck out an inde- 
pendent course. 

The Warrior was designed in 1858, with an iron hull one-half as long 
again and 2,000 tons heavier than the largest screw three-decker that 
had been built before her; and she was considerably faster than any 
war ship previously built. 

In some respects this venture proved a success, for the Warrior is 
still, after seventeen years' service, sound and in good order ; while all 
wooden armored vessels, both of previous and subsequent date, are 
counted out or relegated to harbor service. The precedent established 
in tbe design of the Warrior has been followed ; novelties being daringly 
introduced and new designs constantly brought forward, until it is diffi- 
cult to place more than three or four vessels in any one class, by far the 
greater number of designs having been given shape in not more than 
one vessel. 

The most powerful fighting-ships of the French are the armored 
vessels recently put afloat and those they have yet to complete. Of 
these the Redoutable, launched September 18, 1876, is the most formi- 
dable of the number completed. She has a length of 330 feet; beam, 
66 feet 5 inches ; draught of water forward, 23 feet 7 inches ; aft, 25 
feet; and a displacement of nearly 9,000 tons. She is built of iron and 
steel, has a ram bow, is armored with iron from 8 to 10 inches in thick- 
ness on the water-line, and horizontal armor is used of sufficient thickness 
to make the decks proof against projectiles ordinarily used. She is 
armed with heavy rifled guns of large caliber, and the speed is repre- 
sented to be equal to that of the heavy ships of the British navy. 

Two other ships of still greater power, viz, the Foudroyant and De- 
vastation, are rapidly advancing toward completion, the first at the 
Toulon dock-yard and the other at I/Orient; also two others of the 
same type, but not yet named, have been laid down, one at Brest and 
the other at Industrie, making in all five powerful armored ships of the 
first class. 

Some features of more than ordinary importance are to be noticed in 
these vessels. The French naval authorities have broken fresh ground, 
and are in some respects making steps in advance of other powers. 

The Devastation, about being completed, is an example of their re- 
cently constructed armored sea-goiua' ship. Her length is 371 feet 7 
inches; beam, 66 feet 5 inches; mean draught of water, 23 feet 10 
inches; displacement, 9,630 tons; indicated horse-power, 6,000; esti- 
mated maximum speed, 14 knots per hour; and armor on the water-line 
15 inches thick. 

The features of most interest are the great guns to be carried on the 
broadside and the system of working them. There is a central square 
citadel, with the corners truncated. In these corners are to be placed 



THE FRENCH NAVY. 197 

lour guns, each 46 tous iu weight, to be worked by hydraulic machinery, 
the carriages and gear having already been delivered by the Elswick 
firm. These guns are rifle breech-loaders of the French pattern, and are 
the heaviest by 15 tons yet mounted on the broadside of a ship, besides 
which it is the first attempt to use hydraulic power for working guns 
mounted in this way. It was in fact only by the determination to apply 
machinery that the French have been enabled to work guns 46 tons in 
weight on the broadside. 

The firing projectile to be used in these guns will weigh about 915 
pounds and the charge of powder about 200 pounds. The estimated 
muzzle-velocity will be 1,475 feet per second. 

When completed, these ships will carry heavier metal than any vessels 
afloat, the Inflexible and Italian monsters excepted. 

The sister ship Foudroyant will also soon be completed, and it is 
intended that her armament shall be of the same character and weight. 

Next in rank to these, built for aggressive warfare, are the Richelieu, 
Colbert, Trident, and Friedland. The first two were launched in 1875, and 
the other two upward of a year ago. These ships have a length of 314 
feet : beam, 57 feet 3 inches ; draught of water, forward, 24 feet 7 inches ; 
aft, 27 feet 10 inches. The first-named two were laid down in 1869, so 
that the time occupied in building them was six years, and as a conse- 
quence they are not as heavily armored as later-designed ships ; but they 
are, nevertheless, formidable vessels, carrying on the main decks heavy 
rifled guns, besides guus of considerable power in the two side turrets ; 
also lighter guus under the armored forecastle ; and the speed, as 
represented by the officers of the Richelieu during my visit to that ship, 
at the time the trial trip was made — Februarj^, 1876 — was about 13 knots 
per hour. 

The next class of modern armored vessels, known as the garde cote 
type, of which six have been ordered, are represented by the Tonnerre, 
recently completed, and put on her sea trials in February of this year. 
The Tonnerre is 241 feet 6 inches in length, 57 feet 9 inches beam; 
mean load draught 21 feet, and displacement 5,495 tons. She is armored 
with iron 11 inches thick on the water-line, and fitted with a snout ram. 
The single turret is 27 feet 6 inches in diameter, plated with iron 12 
inches thick, except at the gun ports, where it is increased to 14 inches, 
and revolves around a central shaft 4 feet 6 inches in diameter. The 
armament at present mounted in the turret consists of two rifle guns of 
the French breech-loading pattern, each 23 tons iu weight, with a caliber 
of nearly 11 inches. 

The leading feature in this vessel is the introduction of the Rendel 
hydraulic system of machinery for rotating the turret j also for working 
the guns. The advantage claimed for this system iu the rotation of the 
turret consists in the fact that the speed can be regulated and controlled 
with a nicety hitherto found unattainable. As the revolving of the 
turret is the method by which the guns are trained laterally for aim, 
the power of nice adjustment in the operation is of much importance. 
The guns are also mounted and worked by hydraulic machinery which 
runs them in and out, arrests them in recoil, and lifts or lowers them 
bodily. 

During the trials twenty-nine rounds were fired, ten of them over the 
bow and the remainder over the stern, except two rounds the guns were 
fired together. The revolving action of the turret was also tested when 
the vessel was rolling and found iO be uuder complete control, and the 
working of all the machinery satisfactory. 

It is intended to mouut on the same carriages guns weighing 26£ tons 



198 

to fire projectiles of 551 pounds, having a muzzle velocity of 1,476 feet 
per second. 

Hydraulic power is further employed in the Tonnerre for hoisting the 
anchors by means of a capstan-engine. The reported maximum speed 
of the vessel on the measured mile is 15 knots per hour. 

The next size of the modern armored vessels is rated secoud class, of 
which two, the Triomphante and Turenne, are under construction, the first 
at Kochefort and the second at Cherbourg, and three others have been 
laid down at the dock-yards. Besides, for coast defense, two of the first 
class, viz, the Fulminant and Furieux, are building at Cherbourg,, and 
three others of the same class have been laid down or ordered to be 
built ; also, three of the second class are building, viz, the Tempete, 
Tonnant, and Vengeur; besides two first-class gunboats. 

When all of these vessels shall have been completed the French will 
possess a formidable modern fighting fleet, ready, perhaps, to meet 
their traditional foe, the German. 

The dimensions and particulars of the armored ships will be found in 
the first of the following tables. 

The French naval authorities are also progressing with the recon- 
struction of their unarmored fleet. The Duquesne and Tourville, of the 
rapid type, have been completed, also other vessels ; while the Buguay- 
Trouin is nearly completed, and the La Perouse and Villars are in pro- 
cess of construction ; besides, five others of the second class have been 
ordered, and two of the third class are building. 

Prior to 1873 the only French naval sea-going armored ships in serv- 
ice, built of other materials than wood, were three in number 1 , viz, the 
Friedland, Heroine, and Couronne. Neither iron nor steel had hitherto 
been used in the navy for ship construction to any considerable extent ; 
the use of steel was limited to masts, boats, and very small vessels ; 
but recently both iron and steel as materials for ship construction have 
rapidly gained favor. In the large new armored ship Bedoutable, built 
at L'Orient, steel has been employed for the frames, beams, deck-plating, 
bulkheads, the plating behind the armor, and the inner bottom ; conse- 
quently only the outer bottom and the rivets throughout the ship are of 
iron. Two other large armored ships, viz, the Tempete and Tonnerre, are 
building at Brest and L'Orient with the same distribution of material. 
The steel has been produced mainly at Creuzot and Terre Noire. All the 
steel employed in France for naval vessels is made under government 
inspection at the various manufactories, and it is not tested in the dock- 
yards upon receipt. The quality is defined by the conditions of official 
regulations lately issued by the minister of marine, as follows : 

Steel plates. — Steel plates are classified under five heads. For plates of the first 
class the Lowest ruling rates will be accepted ; for those in the four other classes 2, 4, 
6, and 8 francs per hundred kilograms ($3.88, $7.76, $11.64, and $15.52 per ton) are al- 
lowed. The thicknesses of the plates thus classified range from .059 inch to 1.18 inches, 
and the dimensions from 12 feet 4 inches by 3 feet 11£ inches to 19 feet 8£ inches by 4 
feet 1\ inches. 

Testing. — The following tests will be required to ascertain the extension of the metal, 
and its ultimate streugth, both longitudinally and transversely, the recorded results in 
all cases being the mean of at least five independent tests. Test pieces are to be cut 
from a certain percentage of plates taken at random, which are to be subjected alike 
to each class of test. 

These sample bars are to have in each case a width 1^ inches, excepting those 
taken from plates less than .197 inch thick, in which cases the width will be reduced 
to .787 inch, and for plates .708 inch and under, the width will be reduced to the 
thickness of the plate. The length of the portion submitted to test will be in all cases 
7.875 inches, and the test bars will always be annealed. The initial test load will be 
such as to produce a strain equal to four- fifths of the load required to rupture the plate. 
This initial load will be kept on the test piece for a time of five minutes. Additional 



THE FRENCH NAVY. 



199 



weights will then be added at equal intervals of time, probably half-minute periods. 
The corresponding extension for each increment of load, will be carefully noted, and 
measured on the original length of 7.875 inches. The ultimate extension will be that 
produced at the moment of rupture. 

These test bars to be passed should not break under the initial load, nor give any 
ultimate extension less than eight-tenths of the maximum final extension mentioned 
above. 

The minimum loads in tons per square inch of the original section and the minimum 
percentages of extension are given in the following tables. For plates the mean results 
which should be compared with the table are those which have been obtained in the 
direction of least resistance. 

Table I. — Steel plates. 





For constructive 
purposes. 


For boilers. 


Thickness of plate in inches. 


S c3 

© 

© a 


"3 

a . 
<a a 

•■§ 

© x 
>*> 
< 


a l 

3 a 

< 


a . 
-4 


.019 


Tons per 
sq. in. 
30.3 
30.3 
30.3 
29.5 
29.5 
29.0 
29.0 
28.4 


Per cent. 

10 
12 
14 
16 
18 
20 
20 
20 


Tons per 
sq. in. 


Per cent. 


.07 to .118 






.118 to .157 






.157 to .197 






.197 to .236 






.236 to .315 


27.0 
27.0 
25.8 


25 


.315 to .787 


26 


.787 to 1.181 


25 






Table II. — Strips and gov 


er-plates. 









Thickness of plate in inches. 



157 to . 236 
236 to .630 
630 to 1.18. 



Longitudinal. 



Tons per 

sq. in. 

31 

31 

31 



Sri 
a 2 

a§ 



Per cent. 

18 
22 
22 



Transverse. 



■B 
s . 

II 

r 



Tons per 

sq. in. 

28.4 

28.4 

27.0 



t£ © 

S3 



Per cent. 

16 
18 
17 



Hot tests. — These tests will be made with sample plates of suitable dimensions, and 
consist in stamping a dished cavity, the side of the plates preserving its original plane. 
The diameter of this cavity is to be equal to forty times the thickness of the plate, and 
the depth will be ten times this thickness; the flat edge to be joined to the cavity by 
a curve the radius of which is not to be greater than the thickness of the plate. 
Moreover, plates more than .197 inch thick will be stamped with a flat-bottomed 
depression with square angles and straight sides, the diameter of the bottom to be 
thirty times the thickness of the plate, and the depth ten times the same thickness. 
The bottom of this cavity will be pierced with a round hole with the metal forced per- 
pendicularly beyond the bottom of the recess. The diameter of the hole to be twenty 
times the thickuess of the plate, and the height of the sides five times the same thick- 
ness. All of the corners will be rounded with a curve not of greater radius than the 
thickness of the plate. The pieces thus tested with every precaution which the work- 
ing of steel requires, must show no signs of yielding or cracking even when cooled in 
a brisk current of air. 

Tempering tests. — For these tests bars 10.24 inches long by 1.58 inches wide will be cut 
from the plate longitudinally as well as transversely. These strips will be heated uni- 
formly to a slightly dull cherry-red, and then tempered in water at a temperature of 
82°. Thus treated they must be bent in the testing-machine to a curve of which the 
minimum radius is not greater than the thickuess of the bars. These same bars, when 
the corresponding plates are to be used for boilers, will be bent double in the press 



200 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



without showing any traces of fracture, and in such a way that the halves of the plate 
may be in contact. The sides of the bars thus tested, if rounded, can be squared up 
with a soft file. Plates not coming up to these tests will be rejected. 

Angle, profile, T and I irons. — To ascertain the qualities of different classes of profile 
bars three series of tests will be imposed ; 1, cold tests ; 2, tempering ; and 3, hot tests. 

1. Cold tests. — These have for their object to ascertain the ultimate strength and 
properties of extension of the metal. A certain number of pieces will be cut from the 
webs of bars taken at random, and care will be taken that the cross-sections are 
almost rectangular, the thickness being that of the web and the width 1.18 inches, ex- 
cept for sections less than .197 inch thick, in which cases the width will be reduced to 
.787 inch, and for those more than .71 inch thick, in which the width will be reduced to 
the thickness of the plate. The length of the samples tested to be 7.87 inches. The 
bars will be subjected to tensile strains either by direct weights or by levers, the load 
increasing up to the point of rupture. The initial load will be such as to produce a 
strain equal to eight-tenths the breaking strain calculated upon the basis iu the fol- 
lowing table. The first load will be kept on during five min utes, and the additional 
loads will be added at half-minute intervals. The ultimate extension is that produced 
at the moment of rupture, and no samples will be passed which show an extension less 
than the required amount. 

The lowest average loads per square inch of original section under which the bars 
should break when tested, and the minimum corresponding extensions, are as follows , 



Thickness of web in inches. 



118 to . 157 
157 to . 236 
236 to . 630 
630 to . 984 



Angle and profile 
sections. 



a 



ga 
< 



Tons per 
sq. in. 
31 
31 
31 
31 






o a 



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18 
20 
22 
20 



T-sections. 






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® 2 



2 a 






Tons per 
sq. in. 
29. 23 
29.23 
29.23 
29. 23 



Per cent. 

18 



I-sections. 



a 

21 
o 



Tons per 
sq. in. 
29.5 
29.5 
29.5 
29.5 






Per cent. 

16 
16 

18 
18 



2. Temper tests. — For these tests bars will be cut from the webs of the various sections 
10.24 inches long and 1.575 inches wide. The sides of these pieces must not be rounded, 
but they may be squared up with a soft file. The bar will be heated uniformly to a 
dull cherry-red, and then cooled in water at 82°. Thus tempered they ought to take 
under the action of the press a permanent curvature, the inner radius of which must 
not be greater than one and a half times the thickness of the plate. 

3. Hot tests. — The angle-bars will be subjected to the following tests : With one piece 
cut from the end of a bar taken at random from each parcel, a ring shall be made, so 
that while one web preserves its original plane, the other shall be bent into a circle 
the inner diameter of which sball not be more than three times the width of the flat 
web. A piece cut from another bar shall be opened until the inner faces of the webs 
shall be practically iu the same plane, and a third piece shall be closed until the webs 
come into contact. The samples thus treated must show no cracks or other imperfec- 
tions. Plain T-bars shall be subjected to the following tests: A piece cut from the 
end of a bar taken at random from a parcel shall be bent into a semicircle, while the 
vertical web preserves its original plane. The interior diameter of this curve shall 
not exceed four times the height of the bar. In a piece cut from another bar taken 
from the same parcel, a horizontal slot will be cut in the middle of the web, of a length 
equal to the depth of the bar; a hole will be drilled at each end of the slot, in order 
to prevent the plate from tearing under the test, and that part of the web beneath the 
slot will then be bent uutil it forms an angle of 45° with the remainder. Care will be 
taken to keep the bent portion in the same line with the rest of the web, to which it 
will be connected by a bend of small radius. No cracks or other imperfections must be 
developed under this test. Bulb and double T-bars will be tested as follows : At the 
end of a bar taken at random from the parcel, a horizontal slot will be cut in the center 
of the web, equal in length to three times the depth of the bar, holes being drilled at 
the ends as before ; then the bar will be bent at one or several heats, until one part thus 
opened forms an angle of 45° with the other, the portion thus bent being kept in the 
same plane. In bulb-sections the portion bent will be that carrying the bulb. In all 
cases the angles must be connected with the straight parts by curves of small radius. 
All samples failing under these tests will lead to the rejection of the parcel from which 
they were selected. 



THE FRENCH NAVY. 



201 



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EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



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THE FRENCH NAVY. 203 

THE DUQUESKE AND TOURVILLE. 

The preceding outlines represent the modern French frigate Duquesne, 
recently set afloat at the Rochefort dock-yard. A sister ship, the Jhur- 
ville, has also recently been constructed, under contract, at a yard near 
Toulon. Both ships are termed cruisers of the rapid type, are designed 
for seventeen knots per hour at sea, and are furnished with formidable 
rams. The frames, bulkheads, beams, and all interior parts, also the 
masts, are composed of steel; but the outside plating of the hulls is en- 
tirely of iron, and the bottoms are sheathed with two layers of teak 
planks, in all 7 inches thick, and coppered ; put on in a similar manner to 
the system of the English, except that, to insulate the iron from the cop- 
per, thick layers of marine glue have been placed between the iron hulls 
and the teak planks, also between the teak and copper. 

A few of the dimensions and other data are as follows: 

Length between perpendiculars 325 feet 8 inches. 

Length, total 350 feet. 

Breadth at load water-line , - . . 50 feet. 

Draught of water forward '. 20 feet 3 inches. 

Draught of water aft 25 feet 2 inches. 

Displacement, loaded 5, 436 tons. 

Area of sail surface 21, 000 square feet. 

WEIGHTS. 

Weight of hull , , 2, 650 tons. 

Weight of guns and ammunition 260 tons. 

Weight of engines and boilers 1 ? 280 tons. 

Coal 655 tons. 

ARMAMENT. 

This consists of twenty-seven guns ; twenty of these have a caliber of 
14 centimeters, and seven of 16 centimeters, about 5J and 6J inches, re- 
spectively. 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

The engines and boilers for the Tourville were both designed and con- 
structed at the extensive Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranee, at Mar- 
seilles. The engines, which are to develop 6,000 horse-power, are of 
the horizontal compound type, and consist of two sets, of four cylinders 
to the set, making, in all, eight cylinders, having four piston-rods con- 
nected to one crank-shaft, to work a single screw ; i. e., the four low 
pressure cylinders are laid horizontally on one side of the shaft, each 
having its high-pressure cylinder bolted to the outboard end, the steam 
being admitted directly from the high to the low pressure cylinders with- 
out passing through a receiver, and being conducted iiually to four tubu- 
lar condensers kept free by two rotary pumps. The boilers are of the 
old box type, braced to carry a pressure of 45 pounds per square inch, 
and built after the systematic style of the French. 

The grate surface is 950 square feet, and the heating surface 24,500 
square feet. The diameter of the screw-propeller is 20 feet 3 inches. 
The estimated number of revolutions per minute is 76. The estimated 
indicated horse-power is 7,500, and the speed at these tigures 17 knots 
per hour. The space occupied by these engines is greater than that 
occupied by the engines of any single-screw ship I have knowledge of, 



204 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

and the numerous parts and multitudinous connections make the com- 
plication great, and will cause serious difficulty with the operation of 
the machinery, if it does not result in other evils ; besides which, the 
boilers are of the discarded type, and cannot be worked to the pressure 
necessary to obtain the economy resulting from the compound system; 
and as the Tonrville has been built for high speed as the first require- 
ment, it may be regretted that a more simple type of machinery has 
not been adopted. The French naval authorities, in building this, their 
first rapid cruiser, have, in many features of the hull, followed the sys- 
tem of the English, and have accepted the errors admitted by the Brit- 
ish authorities to exist in their modern frigate the Shah. 

Besides the original great cost, about $1,470,000, large cost for main- 
tenance, and unwieldy bulk to handle, the motive power is decidedly 
objectionable, and the coal supply is only 655 tons. 

The motive machinery for the Duquesne is from a different design. It 
is being manufactured at the Usine d'lndret. 

SMALLEE VESSELS. 

The corvette Duguay-Trouin, building at Cherbourg, is also designed 
as a rapid cruiser. She is to have 3,180 tons displacement, to make 16 
knots per hour on the measured mile, and is intended to compete with 
the English Rover class. 

There is also a third class building, of which the Rigault de Genouilly 
is the type. They are to compete with the English Opal class. These 
vessels are 240 feet long, have 44 feet extreme beam, 14 feet 7 inches 
mean draught, a displacement of 1,640 tons, 8 guns of 5.51-inch caliber, 
engines of 1,900 horse-power, and an intended speed of 15 knots. 

The list appended contains the names of the vessels building and pro- 
posed December, 1877. It will give a very good idea of the progress 
made at this time in reconstructing the French navy. 



THE FRENCH NAVY. 



205 



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206 

DOCK- YARDS OF FRANCE. 

France is separated into five naval divisions, known as arrondissements 
maritimes, each of which is presided over by a prefet maritime. The 
names of the arrondissements are the same as those of their chief ports, 
viz, Cherbourg, Brest, L'Orient, Rochefort, and Toulon. 

Each dock-yard is immediately under the command of a rear-admiral, 
major general de la majorite, who controls the personnel. 

The work in the yard is divided under seven official heads, viz, a 
major-general, major of the fleet, director of movements in the port, 
director of naval constructions, director of naval artillery, naval com- 
missary-general, and medical director. 

The director of constructions is an engineer officer; he supervises the 
construction and repair of all ships and vessels and all machinery built 
or repaired at the dock-yard. His assistants also belong to the engineer 
corps. 

CHERBOURG. 

This important French naval port is located on the English Channel, 
opposite to Portsmouth. The dock yard is an artificial one, with a road- 
stead formed by the construction of a grand breakwater, and it is de- 
fended by works believed at the time of construction to have been 
the most successful effort of engineering skill ; numerous forts and bat- 
teries not only encircle the yard, but also surmount the breakwater; and 
every other commanding point, both to the seaward and in the rear, has 
been turned to the best account. 

The works within the yard and the fortifications without were con- 
structed at an enormous cost and by long and patient labor, having oc- 
cupied the French fifty-five years, viz, from 1803 until 1858, when the 
last stone was laid and the late Emperor opened the basin, which then 
bore his name. 

Plans showing the position of the dock-yards, basins, dry docks, 
building-slips, and buildings were furnished to the department some 
years ago by the author; particular localities mentioned in this report 
may be found upon reference to said plans. 

The works within the yard consist of three great basins and two minor 
ones, eight dry-docks, eleven building-slips, and twenty-eight substan- 
tial stone buildings. The docks and basins have been excavated from 
slate- quartz of the same formation as that from which the Key ham 
docks (noticed previously) have been excavated. The first or outer basin, 
known as the avant-port militaire, or Dock Napoleon L, with entrance 
from the roadstead, and outlets to the other basins, covers an area of 
741,185 square feet. The second or inner basin, known as the basin de 
Jlot, has an area of 686,662 square feet ; and the third, known as the 
arriere basin de flot, or Dock Napoleon III., covers an area of 904,201 
square feet. The three are conuected by locks and gates. Contiguous 
to the basins are the dry-docks ; the outer port possessing one, and the 
inner basin seven. 

Around the basins are distributed the building-slips, work shops, and 
store-houses. After the excavations from the slate-quartz, they are 
formed throughout, batteries and walls, with blocks of granite laid in a 
similar manner to the blocks in the dry-docks and the building-slips, 
and the whole work presents beautiful specimens of masonry. 

The outer port has no gates or caissons at the entrance from the road- 
stead ; into it all the vessels first enter, passing afterward to the inner 
docks or basins at pleasure. On the south side of the entrance to this 



THE FRENCH NAVY. 207 

basin are the smitheries, the forges, and the old machine- works, an 
arrangement found to be inconvenient for the transportation of ma- 
terial to the shops, or of machinery to and from the vessels in the basin 
or docks. On the south side of the basin are four buildiDg-slips, hav- 
ing ship-houses of old date over them, and a dry-dock of less capacity 
than those attached to the inner basin. The ship-houses are 380 feet in 
length by 87 feet high, covered with ordinary roofs which are supported 
by granite columns 7 feet square, and they are spaced 130 feet from cen- 
ter to center. Neither on the west nor on the southwest are there any 
shops in close proximity to the outer port. 

The building No. 6, shown on the plan mentioned, is 883 feet long and 
73 feet wide ; it is divided in the center by a cross- wall. The south end 
contains a large number of smithery fires, which are arranged at either 
of the side walls, with the steam-hammers, furnaces, and cranes in con- 
venient reach. The north end of the building contains the machinery 
and tools for repairing and fitting the steam-machinery of the vessels in 
port. The appliances, tools, &c, embrace the usual kinds found in such 
shops, and are the productions of Whit worth and Rigby, of England, and 
of Mazeline and other tool-builders of France. With few exceptions, it 
may be said that they are of a date anterior to the improved machines 
in the best English engine-factories. Adjoining this building, and at 
the north end, are the iron and brass founderies, under one roof, contain- 
ing ordinary foundery appliances. At a short distance from the machine- 
works, No. 14, is the machine-erecting shop. Here all the heavy machin- 
ery for the vessels is fitted and put together previous to being placed on 
board. This building is one story high and 203 feet in length by 83 feet 
wide. It coutains one traveling crane movable on wheels over a rail- 
track, one very large lathe, several large boring, slotting, and drilling 
machines, besides the erecting attachments; but, like the machines and 
tools in all the other shops, they are from patterns made previous to re- 
cent improvements. On the east side of the ship-basin is the ordnance 
building, containing the small-arms and ordnance stores, and on the 
south side are the mast-houses, spar-houses, mold-lofts, sail lofts, and 
galleys. The inner ship-basin is the great work of the dock-yard ; its 
construction was commenced in 1836, and it was finished in 1858 ; its 
dimensions in round numbers are, length 1,365 feet, breadth 650 feet. 

On the east side of this basin, No. 3, are the store-houses and offices. 
On the north side are four dry-docks, two of them being of the largest 
class, each of which, measured at the bottom, is 600 feet by 70 feet. 

To the east of the dry dock No. 15, are the boiler making, copper, and 
tin shops, all under one roof and separated by longitudinal and cross 
walls. The building is one story high, 320 feet loug by 118 wide; one 
portion, divided into two longitudinally, is devoted to boiler-making and 
has an overhead traveling crane in each division to facilitate the move- 
ment of heavy weights. None of the boiler-making tools are of the best 
varieties, besides which the shops are deficient in many improved 
machines of the time, found in English dock-yards and the best English 
engine-factories. In the center of the building at the extreme south end 
of the yard are the pum ping-engines and their boilers, for removing the 
water from the inner ship-basin and the docks belonging to it. At both 
ends of the same building are workshops. The hydraulic works and 
model-rooms are marked No. 5 on the plan referred to. In the former 
all details appertaining to pumps and pump-gear are manufactured. In 
the model-rooms is a plan of the dock-yard and a complete model of 
it on a large scale, showing all the buildings, basins, docks, and build- 
ing slips. A little to the west, No. 32 is the reservoir for supplying the 



208 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAP, ETC. 

yard and the vessels of war in the port with fresh water. The water is 
received from the same source as that from which the supply of the town 
is drawn. The west side of the inner basin is occupied with seven 
building-slips and one small dry-dock. The slips are formed like those 
previously named, and are of sufficient capacity to allow the building of 
any class of vessels, but they have no ship-houses over them. 

The vessels built on these slips are launched into the basin, aud are 
brought to rest before reaching the opposite walls by means of rafts 
pushed before them. 

The south side of the basin is occupied by two dry-docks of the largest 
class, capable of taking in any vessel now afloat; timber, store-houses, 
and the steam-factories are also here. The buildings of the steam-fac- 
tories embrace those for the machine- works, the smithery, and forge. 
The smithery building is in the form of a right angle, with legs of equal 
length, each of which is 175 feet long by 70 feet in width. It is one 
story high, and, like all the other Cherbourg dock-yard buildings, is 
constructed of a peculiar soft stone of the locality. In the center longi- 
tudinal line of the building are judiciously arranged in iron frames 
the smithery fires, so that the anvils, ou either side of the building, are 
brought directly under the light of the windows. In one angle of the 
building are the steam hammers, furnaces, and other appliances. 

The building for the machine-works forms an opposite right angle to 
the smithery, and is of the same dimensions. At the extreme south- 
west end of the dock-yard are the sailor, marine, and gendarme bar- 
racks. The joiner shops (No. 9) are west of the ship-houses. The 
steam saw-mills are marked No. 10, and have proved to be one of the 
most useful and economical branches of employment belonging to the 
dock yard. The dimensions of this buiiding are 910 feet long by 113 
feet wide, divided into two parts by a cross-wall — one end containing 
the stores of timber and the other all the machinery necessary for saw- 
ing and working wood into any shape required in wood-ship building, 
including the formation of the frames of ships. 

At the extreme south end of the yard are the bakery and provision 
stores. The bakery is extensive ; the building is two stories high, 685 
feet long by 64 feet wide. One of the peculiarities of the French sys- 
tem is that all the bread for the use of their vessels of war is baked in 
the dock-yards. No. 33 is a " hydrometer"; it measures the rise and fall 
of the tides continuously, and there is a complete daily record kept of 
it from beginning to end of each year. Conveniently arranged on either 
side of the entrance to the outer port are coal-storages, admitting of 
coaling vessels without interfering with other work. This can be seen 
at No. 26, ou the plan aforesaid. 

The streets and avenues of the Cherbourg dock-yards are paved 
throughout with blocks of stone, and rail-tracks traverse all avenues 
leading to or from the workshops, basins, docks, and building slips. 

Cherbourg, in short, is a dock-yard displaying great engineering skill, 
and show r s what may be accomplished in those cases where nature has 
done little more than trace the outline and furnish an abundant supply 
of water. The basin accommodation is very extensive, and the largest 
basin — the inner one — with all the docks attached to it, is designed to 
accommodate a small fleet. 

The land approaches of Cherbourg, in addition to the redoubts and 
fort* shown on the plan to which reference has been made, possess 
features of an interesting kind. An enemy landing near the place for 
the purpose of its reduction by siege would have no easy task ; his 
every step for miles would be impeded, even by numerically smaller 



FRENCH DOCK-YARDS, 20 9 

force, from behind successive natural field-works. Cherbourg, when 
created, was regarded by the first engineers of France as a stronghold, 
both to seaward and in the rear, frowning defiance to the world; but in 
those days there were no rifled guns, no heavy ordnance, and none of 
the destructive projectiles of the present day ; nor were there any ar- 
mored ships of war. Modern improvements in naval warfare place Cher- 
bourg dock-yard, at the present period, in the greatest danger when ap- 
proached by an enemy from the sea. 



in name and tradition, is ranked as one of the most extensive and impor- 
tant dock-yards of Europe. Unlike Cherbourg, it is formed on a natural 
harbor and in a more secure position from bombardment. It is fortified, 
and the approaches to it are well covered. The port is familiar to all 
navigators, and known as one of the best in the world. Entering it from 
the Mediterranean, an outer roadstead leads by a narrow channel into 
an inner one of large dimensions. On the shore side of this there is a 
deep bay, the water-front of which is occupied by the dock-yard. This 
bay is about one mile and a quarter across, but, measured by the curve 
of the shore, the water-front is nearly two miles and a quarter, most of 
which is devoted to government purposes. 

After passing the Grosse Tour on the right, the first point reached is 
the construction yard, where the ship-houses are erected and all the 
operations of ship-building carried on. 

At a distance of some hundred yards from this is the commencement 
of the yard proper, which is inclosed by a wall. In front of it, as now 
completed, there are two large basins, known respectively as the Old 
and the New wet-dock. These basins are formed by broad dikes or 
breakwaters constructed in the water of the bay, on which are erected 
large shops and store-houses, and the water-front on the inside of the 
breakwater more than doubles the accommodation for vessels which is 
permitted by the wharves on the front on the main. 

Beyond the precincts of the building now constructed is the Missiessy 
wet-dock, which extends to the left point of the bay in front of the city. 
It is more commodious than the other basins, the water-front on the 
main being about 203 rods. Adjoining it is the pyrotechnic school, at 
the village of Bregaillon, on what would be an island but for a narrow 
isthmus connecting it with the mainland, and immediately south of the 
Grosse Tour is located the great naval hospital of St. Mandrier. 

The dry-docks are seven in number, one of them being in two commu- 
nicating parts, which, when used as one, admit a length of 500 feet. 
All are convenient to the Old and the New basins. 

The disposition of basins, docks, workshops, and other buildings may 
be seen from the drawings transmitted to the department. 

BREST. 

The dock-yard at Brest is admirably situated for defense, and the 
harbor is well protected from the weather. The entire length of the 
channel is about 15,000 feet, and its average width is about 525 feet. 
Both sides of the inlet are devoted to the use of the dock-yard, and are 
lined with fine quays. 

On either side is a basin with docks, and a third basin, larger than 
either of the others, is situated at the head of the slip aud has four 
stone dry-docks capable of taking in the largest vessels. The construc- 
14 K 



210 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

tion of the yard was difficult in consequence of the formation of the 
land, which rises almost perpendicularly from the shores of the inlet on 
which it is constructed. 

In order to provide space for the accommodation of the numerous 
workshops, store-houses, and other buildings required, the land and 
rock have been terraced, and the buildings on the left side toward the 
town have been constructed in three ranges, one above the other. The 
lowest tier is devoted to workshops, store-houses r offices, &c, the second 
tier to the bagne, formerly used as a prison for convicts, also to the 
accommodation of a large ropewalk 1,600 feet in length. On the right 
side are the works for the construction and repair of steam-machinery, 
also a barrack for the accommodation of sailors. Its capacity is sufficient 
for five thousand men. 

I/ORIENT 

is easily approached from the Bay of Biscay, and its position on the 
projecting land between the two rivers Scorff and Blavet gives it natu- 
ral advantages which have been recognized and turned to account. The 
sea defenses have been strengthened in the last few years by heavier 
guns from the government establishment at Buelle, and additional fac- 
tory works erected. As a construction yard its capabilities are large, 
both for wood and iron ship building, there being two dry-docks, one of 
large size, and four building-slips. It was here that the first two iron 
armored ships of the French were built, the Couronne and Heroine. 

ROCHEFORT 

is also a construction yard of large capabilities, containing a number of 
building-slips, several stone dry-docks, and all the usual appliances for 
iron and wood ship building. The five national dock-yards of France, 
great as are their capabilities, do not comprise all the establishments 
for building and repairing ships of war under the orders of the French 
Government. 

The ship-yards at Bordeaux, at Nantes, at La Seyne, Havre, and other 
ports, the extensive iron-ship-building and engineering works, and iron 
and steel manufacturing works at Creuzot (the largest in Europe), and 
all other works in France, can be placed under the orders of the minis- 
ter of marine on conditions to suit the government, or men can be con- 
scripted from them into the national dock-yards. 

PERSONNEL OF THE FRENCH NAVY. 

The line officers of the French navy are recruited chiefly from tbe 
naval school, from the polytechnic school, and by the admission of offi- 
cers from the merchant service who have passed certain examinations. 
Beginning at the lowest step, the grades are as follows : Cadet of the 
second class ; cadet of the first class having the relative rank of second 
lieutenant in the army ; ensign (enseigne de vaisseau), ranking with a 
first lieutenant; lieutenant, ranking with captain in the army; captain 
of frigate, ranking with lieutenant-colonel ; commodore (capitaine de 
vaisseau), ranking with colonel; rear-admiral (contre-amiral), ranking 
with brigadier-general ; vice-admiral, ranking with general of division ; 
and, finally, admiral, ranking with field-marshal. Of these, the three 
superior grades are distinguished by the common name of " general 
officers of the navy"; captains of both grades are entitled " superior offi- 
cers," all others being classed as " officers." The active list of " general 



PERSONNEL OF THE FRENCH NAVY. 211 

officers of the navy," as at present established, contains the names of no 
admirals. 

Vice-admirals, when they attain the age of sixty- five, and rear-admi- 
rals, when they complete their sixty-second year, are removed from the 
active list and placed en disponibilite ; that is to say, they are no longer 
eligible in time of peace, but may be called upon to serve in the event 
of war. 

Admirals, however, who have commanded a fleet, or who have spe- 
cially distinguished themselves in action with the enemy, may be retained 
on the active list, though they have passed the prescribed limit of age. 
Promotion, from the lowest rank up to that of captain of frigate inclusive, 
is given in some few instances by selection, but for the most part by sen- 
iority. From the rank of captain of frigate upward, advancement takes 
place exclusively by selection, but, in any case, an officer must have 
served a certain prescribed time in each grade before he is eligible for 
promotion to the next higher. For instance, a rear-admiral must have 
served two years either in a squadron or naval division before he can 
become a vice-admiral ; a capitaine de vaisseau must have four years 7 
seniority and must have served three years at sea before he can be pro- 
moted $ a captain of frigate must have similar service before he may be 
advanced ; a lieutenant must have four and an ensign two years 7 service 
before becoming eligible for promotion. All officers below the rank of 
rear-admiral are attached to one or other of the naval ports of France, at 
which those below the rank of captain of frigate must reside when not 
embarked. 

A roster, called the liste d 'embarquement, is kept at each station by 
the maritime prefect of the district, and officers are embarked, as may 
be required, when they arrive at the top of this list, while officers re- 
quired for duty on shore in connection with naval matters are taken from 
among those at the foot, a method which insures that, as nearly as may 
be, every officer shall have a fair share of sea and harbor employment. 

The number of officers borne on the Navy Eegister for 1877 is as 
follows : 

Admirals 

Vice-admirals 29 

Rear-admirals 51 

Captains 110 

Captains of frigates 230 

Lieutenants of the first class 348 ) „.r> 

Lieutenants of the second class 400 $ 

Ensigns 498 

Midshipmen of the first class 140 ^ 182 

Midshipmen of the second class 42 S 

Naval engineer' corps : 

Inspector- general, ranking after rear-admiral 1 

Directors of naval construction, ranking hefore capitaine de vaisseau 12 

Engineers of the first class, ranking with capitaine de vaisseau 22 

Engineers of the second class, ranking with captain of frigate 22 

Sub-engineers, ranking with lieutenant of the first or second class, or with 

ensign 74 

Meclianicians-in-chief, ranking with captain of corvette 2 

Principal mechanicians of the first class, ranking with lieutenant of the first 

class 8 

Principal mechanicians of the second class, ranking with enseigne de vaisseau 39 

Hydro-graphic engineers : 

Chief engineer hydrographer, ranking after rear-admiral 1 

Engineer hydrographers of the first class, ranking with capitaine de vaisseau 4 

Engineer hydrographers of the second class, ranking with captain of frigate .. . 4 

Sub-engineer hydrographers, ranking with lieutenant and ensign 6 



212 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

Pay corps or commissariat : 
Commissary-generals of the first class? 

Commissary-generals of the second class \ T&ntLin S alter rear-admiral ^ 4 

Commissaries, ranking with capitaine de vaisseau 28 

Deputy commissaries, ranking with captain of corvette 52 

Sub -commissaries of the first class /ranking with lieutenants of the firsts 94 

Sub-commissaries of the second class S and second class \ 93 

Assistant commissaries, ranking with enseigne de vaisseau 113 

f first class 51^ 

Commissary elerkJ ^X^" -:::-- -- — V-- & \ 404 

[ fourth class 151 J 

Commissariat of the colonies : 

Commissary-generals of the first class 2 

Commissary-generals of the second class 3 

Commissaries 17 

Dejmty commissaries 34 

Sab-commissaries of the first class 27 

Sub-commissaries of the second class 43 

Assistant commissaries 93 

Commissary clerks 80 

Medical corps : 

Inspector-general, ranking after rear-admiral 1 

Medical directors of the first class ) (2 

Medical directors of the second class . . . > ranking before captain } 3 

Medical and pharmaceutical inspectors. ) ( 2 

Surgeons-in-chief, ranking with capitaine de vaisseau 21 

Prio £ cTp n al P st e g S eZ::: }"»*..« with captain ° f C °™ tte \ 40 

Surgeons of the first class, ranking with lieutenant 202 

Surgeons of the second class, ranking with ensign 204 

Surgeons of the third class 2 

Assistant surgeons, ranking with cadet of the first class 157 

Apothecaries-in-chief, ranking with captain 4 

Apothecaries of the first class, ranking with lieutenant 22 

Apothecaries of the second class, ranking with ensign 25 

Assistant apothecaries, ranking with cadet of the first class 26 

Chaplains : 

Chaplain-in-chief, ranking after rear-admiral 1 

Superior chaplains, ranking with captain of corvette 4 

Chaplains of the first class, ranking with lieutenant of the first class 24 

Chaplains of the second class, ranking with lieutenant of the second class 22 

Professors : 

Professors of the first class 25 

Professors of the second class 11 

Professors of the third class 8 

Professors of the fourth class , 2 



Total number 3,964 

Naval police (gendarmerie maritime) 18 

EXPEKDITUKES. 

The cost of the maintenance of the French navy for the financial year 
1877 was : 

Personnel of the navy $6, 451,726 

All other purposes for the navy proper 20, 438, 312 

Military forces 2,451,462 

Colonial service 5,621,804 

Total (gold) 34,963,304 



PERSONNEL OF THE FRENCH NAVY. 213 

According to the Broad Arrow : 

The enlisted men for the French navy are obtained by what is known as the inscrip- 
tion maritime. Every young man who has completed his eighteenth year, and who has 
made two long voyages, either on board a vessel belonging to the state or a merchant- 
ship, or who has been leading a seafaring life for eighteen months, or who has been 
engaged as a fisherman for two years, and who declares his intention of remaining a 
sailor or fisherman, is inscribed as a sailor, and is liable to be called upon to serve in 
the French navy. A month before he completes his twentieth year, or immediately 
after his return, should he at that time be absent from France, he is bound to x>resent 
himself to the proper authorities. By them he is sent to the chief port of the maritime 
district to which he belongs, and is there incorporated into one of the divisions of 
sailors. Should he prefer to do so, he may report himself at any time after he has com- 
pleted his eighteenth year. The first period of service of the young inscrit extends 
over five years. During this time, he may, if his services are not required, be granted 
leave, which may be renewed from time to time, receiving no pay, but at liberty to 
employ himself in seafaring occupations. At the expiration of the first five years he 
enters upon a second period of service of two years, during which he may also be per- 
mitted to remain on leave ; Provided that while thus on leave he is engaged only in 
coasting or fishing vessels, the inscrit is allowed to count all the time thus spent as 
service rendered to the state ; after he has completed his second period, he can only 
be called upon to serve by a special decree in case of an extraordinary emergency. 
The sailors required for service in the fleet are taken from among the inscrits who have 
not rendered any service to the state, or — should the number of these be insufficient — 
from among those who count least service, or in case of equal amount of service from 
among those who have been longest on leave. Certain men are, however, exempted, 
whenever possible, from actual service. Such are, for instance, the eldest brothers of 
a family of orphans, men who have a brother already serving, only sons, the eldest son 
of a blind father, or of a father who has passed his seventieth year, or the eldest grand- 
son of a widow ; but it is laid down in the law of 1872 that these exemptions must 
be specially made in each individual case by the minister of marine upon the recom- 
mendation of the chief local naval authorities. 

Certain advantages are reserved for these inscrits maritimes. They alone have the 
right of fishing in French waters, or of being employed in French coasting-vessels. 
They are exempted from all other public service. While employed, and for four months 
after their return to their homes, troops cannot be billeted in their houses. When 
serving, they may travel by railway at a fourth of the ordinary fare. If they fall sick 
during the forty days following their proceeding on leave, they are admitted to the 
naval hospitals free of charge ; and, finally, by paying a small annual premium, which 
never exceeds three per cent, of his salary, the inscrit acquires a right to a pension, 
termed demi-solde, after being at sea for twenty-five years, or on arriving at the age of 
fifty, whatever may be the amount of service that he has rendered to the state, his 
widow, should he die, continuing to enjoy a portion of the pension. 

Voluntary enlistment is also permitted in the French navy ; but, unless he has pre- 
viously rendered service to the state, the recruit must be between eighteen and twenty- 
four years of age, the limit being extended to thirty years in the case of musicians, 
[firemen], carpenters, calkers, and a few other ratings. Time-expired men are also 
allowed to re-engage for a further period of service of three, four, or five years, pro- 
vided they can pass a certain examination in their duties, when they receive a some- 
what higher rate of pay. The ratings in the navy, beginning from the lowest rank, 
are those of novice, marine apprentice, sailor of the third, second, and first class — quar- 
termaster, second master, master, and first master. Before a young man can be rated 
as a sailor of the third class, he must be at least eighteen years of age, must have served 
in the navy for at least twelve months, or, if he belongs to the inscription maritime, must 
have made two long voyages, or have been employed in coasting voyages for eighteen 
months or in fishing for two years. Before he can become a sailor of the second or first 
class he must have served at least six months in the lower rating. Similarly, a man 
must have served at least six months as a sailor before he can be made a quartermaster. 
Before he can be promoted to second master he must have served six months as quar- 
termaster on board a ship carrying guns, and he must also be able to read and write ; 
and before he can become master or first master he must have served six months as 
second master on board a vessel with a complement of 250 men, or have discharged for 
the same period the duties of acting master on board a ship carrying a crew of at least 
150 men. 



PART ZKIIV 



THE GEKMAN NAVY. 

THE DEUTSCHLAND; THE PREUSSEN; THE SACHSEN, AND 
OTHER VESSELS; TABLE OF DIMENSIONS, ETC., OF AR- 
MORED AND UNARMORED SHIPS OF GERMANY; 
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HERR FRIEDRICH 
KRUPP, AND HIS GUNS. 



SI! 



THE GERMAN NAVY. 



The public mind in Europe has for some time been directed to the 
growing power of Germany at sea, and friendly people have looked, not 
without some degree of admiration, upon the earnest and business-like 
efforts of that practical-minded nation to attain a position at sea some- 
what commensurate with her position on land. 

Few movements are more remarkable than that which has of late 
years been developing Germany into a maritime power. This navy com- 
menced only about twenty-eight years ago, with one sailing-corvette and 
two gunboats. Two years afterward it was increased by two steamers 
and forty gunboats, consequent upon the Danish war and the subse- 
quent blockade of the Baltic ports; and in the two succeeding years 
the addition was made to it of four more vessels, viz, a brig, two dis- 
patch-boats, and a corvette. From this time up to the year 1860 the 
German navy was steadily increased by the addition of wooden vessels, 
until the total number of thirty-one small steamers, eight sailing-vessels, 
and forty-two gunboats had been reached. And, after the year 1860, 
when the building of armored ships had commenced, the German navy 
began to take rank among the navies of Europe. About that time it was 
determined by the authorities at Berlin to increase the navy by the addi- 
tion of several armored ships; two, viz, the Konig Wilhelm and Arminius, 
were built in Englaud, others were built in France, at the Forges et 
Chantiers, on the Mediterranean, and one was commenced in Prussia. 
But it was not until after the close of the Franco-Prussian war of 
1870, when Germany had acquired her full territorial and administra- 
tive organization, that there seemed to be at length an opportunity 
for gratifying the naval ambition of the country. Accordingly, after 
deliberate consideration of what were the purposes for which they 
wanted a navy, and what number and kind of vessels such purposes 
would require, a policy was decided upon in 1873 by the present 
administration, and a plan devised. It was, of course, understood 
that the plan was liable to be modified from time to time to keep pace 
with the progress of science, but this consideration has only affected 
some details of their scheme, and has not prevented it from being 
systematically carried into effect. They decided on what they needed, 
and they have ever since been diligently providing for it. 

The primary object theyhad in view was the defense of the German 
shores from attack and blockade ; secondly, the protection of their com- 
merce and colonists abroad ; and, thirdly, to be prepared to act on the 
offensive against hostile fleets. 

To secure these ends it was considered indispensable to form a navy 
of eight armored frigates, six armored corvettes, seven monitors, two 
floating batteries, twenty unarmored corvettes, six dispatch-boats, 
eighteen gunboats, and twenty-eight torpedo-boats. 

Nothing could be better than the method the Germans seem to have 
pursued in devising their plan. For the first purpose they took into ac- 
count the special character of their coasts and harbors, and considered 
what class of vessels w^ould be requisite at the several points. In the 

217 



218 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

Baltic a different character of defense from that required for the eastern 
shores and mouths of the North German rivers was found to be neces- 
sary. In the former they determined to utilize defensive torpedoes. For 
the latter object it was at first intended to provide monitors, but since 
the development of offensive torpedo-warfare it has been thought wiser 
to construct a larger number of small but well-armored gunboats. These 
will carry heavy guns and torpedoes ; they are of light draught, fair 
speed, and are easily handled. Five have been launched, and are in 
process of equipment, and two are in course of construction. 

Of the armored frigates, two, viz, the Kaiser and Deutsehland, were con- 
structed in England by Messrs. Samuda Brothers, from designs of Mr. 
E. J. Eeed, C. B., M. P. ; two, viz, the Grosser Kurfurst aud the Fried- 
rich der Grosse, were built at the imperial dock-yards of Wilhelmshafen 
and Kiel $ and a fifth, the Preussen, was constructed by the Vulcan En- 
gineering Company at Bredow, near Stettin. The drawings and speci- 
fications for the three last-named ships were prepared at the admiralty 
in Berlin. The two frigates referred to as having been built in England 
are designed as cruisers. They are broadside-vessels, of the central- 
battery type, and are in general features similar to the British frigate 
Hercules, but differing from her in numerous points of detail. One of 
them had just been completed at the date of my visit to the Thames 
building-yardsin the summer of 1875, where I had the advantage of in- 
specting them. Of the armored corvettes, one, the tSachsen, is just com- 
pleted ; one other, the Baiem, is in process of construction, and two 
others have been laid down. The monitors as originally designed have 
not been ordered, but some of the gunboats and torpedo-boats have 
been built, and others are in process of building. 

Since 1870 much encouragement has been given by the German ad- 
miralty to home engineering-works. The Kaiser and Deutsehland were 
the last ships ordered from foreign countries, and of the ships launched 
since 1870, fourteen have been supplied with machiuery made in German 
establishments. The result of this patronage has been the development 
of iron-ship building and marine-engine manufacture to an extent hith- 
erto unknown. 

THE DEUTSCHLAND. 

This ship is about 280 feet long, with a breadth, extreme, of 62 feet, 
load draught 24 feet 6 inches, and a displacement of 7,560 tons. The 
system of framing is unique: both the outer and inner frames are of 
continuous angle-iron, between which the longitudinal plates and angle- 
irons are worked. She is built on the bracket-plate system, like the 
Invincible class of ships ; and has a depth of 40 inches in the vertical 
keel, while her longitudinals diminish to 33 inches in breadth, and then 
increase to 45 inches at the armor-shelf. There are no wing passages, 
but she is divided into compartments by transverse water-tight bulk- 
heads ; and the double-bottom is in 32 water-tight compartments, so 
that in striking a rock it is expected that not more that four could be 
filled with water at once, the cubic capacity of the four being about 
40 tons. 

She has one central battery on the main deck, carrying four guns on 
each side; of which the forward ones fire 3° within the fore-and-aft 
line, and thus afford a converging fire ahead, while the embrasures are 
so arranged that the fire of all the guns on one side may converge at a 
point 276 feet, or about one ship's length, distant. This battery over- 
hangs the side about 3 feet 6 inches at the forward end, and 1 foot 6 



THE GERMAN NAVY. 219 

inches at the after end, but it is within the extreme breadth of the ship, 
and the ports are fitted with heavy forgings on a new plan, so as to 
protect the gunners as much as possible. The guns are Krupp's 26- 
centimeter breech-loading steel cannon, having a bore of about 9f inches, 
and weighing about 22 tons each. To complete the all-round fire, a 
Krupp 22-centimeter gun of SJ-inch bore, weighing about 18 tons, is 
placed on the main deck aft, and is capable of being trained to an angle 
of 15° on each side of the middle line, and protected with armor-plates. 
The height of the port-sills above the load water-line is 11 feet. The 
armor at the water-line, in the wake of the engines, boilers, and maga- 
zines, is LO inches thick, and elsewhere on the belt it is 8 inches amid- 
ships, tapering to 5 inches forward and aft. In the central battery it is 
10 inches at the port-sills, 8 inches on the sides, and 7 inches on the 
bulkheads. The wood backing is of teak, 10 inches thick, placed upon 
two thicknesses of f -inch plate, which are supported by 10-inch frames, 
spaced 2 feet apart. The armor on the belt abaft the battery extends 
5 feet 6 inches below the water-line and 6 feet 6 inches above it, while 
in front of the battery it extends to 2 feet 6 inches above the water-line, 
up to the lower deck, which is covered with protective plating in two 
thicknesses, 2 inches thick for 10 feet in front of the battery bulkhead, 
and 1J inches thick from this forward. There is an armored bulkhead at 
each end of the battery, the forward one extending down to the lower 
deck in order to protect the engines and boilers against a plunging fire. 
The upper and main decks and part of the lower deck are also protected 
with plates. 

The portion uf the upper deck over the battery is covered with f -inch 
steel plates, and J-inch plates before and abaft it ; while the entire sur- 
face of the main deck is covered with steel plating J-inch thick abaft 
the battery, and ^-inch thick in the battery and forward of it. The 
lower deck is not plated abaft the forward armor bulkhead. The ship 
is supplied with a very efficient system of arrangements for pumping 
out or flooding the compartments, &c. The capstan and tire-engine are 
worked by an auxiliary steam-engine, which can be supplied with steam 
either from the main boilers, or, in case steam is not up in them, from 
a small separate boiler attached to the engine. The hawse-pipes are 
placed in the upper deck, and therefore special arrangements have been 
made for the bitts. The steering-wheel, engine-rooms, and battery can 
be communicated with by means of a telegraph placed on the upper 
deck, and protected by armor-plates, and close to them a small armor- 
shield is fitted, behind which two officers could, if necessary, hold a 
consultation. Deviating from the usual custom, the sick-berth is in this 
ship placed on the main deck instead of on the lower deck. The bottom 
of the vessel has been coated with Redman's anti-fouling composition, 
which proved so successful in the trials in the Medway, and of which 
mercury is the chief ingredient used to resist fouliug. 

The machinery was designed and constructed by Messrs. Penu & 
Sous. The engines are of the old type, horizontal, direct-acting, with 
trunks ; they are of the collective power of 8,000 indicated horses. 
The diameter of the cylinders is 122 inches, length of stroke 4 feet, and. 
the maximum speed of pistons is 75 revolutions per minute. A speed 
of 13 knots per hour was attained at sea. The boilers are of the box 
type, and are eight in number. The Deutschland is ship-rigged, has an 
area of 3,900 square feet of canvas with all sails set, and an area of plain 
sail of 2,800 square feet. The screw is fixed, and made to revolve when 
the ship is under sail. It will be seen from the above that the Deutsch- 
land and sister vessel are powerful armored frigates. 



220 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

THE PREUSSEK 

For the following particulars of tbis vessel, I am indebted to the Zeits- 
chrift des Vereines deutscher Ingenieure : 

This vessel is an armored-turret sea-going ship, similar to the Britisb 
ship Monarch. The length between perpendiculars is 308 feet 6 inches ; 
extreme length, 318 feet ; extreme breadth, 53 feet 6 inches ; depth from 
the upper deck to the keel, 34 feet 10 inches; displacement, loaded, 
6,748 tons; load draught of water, mean, 23 feet 10 inches. 

HULL. 

The keel consists of two horizontal plates riveted together, upon 
which are fastened at the middle, by means of two angle-irons, a verti- 
cal plate 3 feet 10 inches high, extending to the two posts, to which all 
the plates forming the keel are connected by bolts and rivets. Four 
longitudinal frames stand almost vertically upon the outer skin, and 
their depth, which up to the fourth longitudinal frame is 31 inches, 
decreases gradually from the keel, running in the same direction as the 
latter, but approaching it fore and aft as required by the shape of the 
vessel. These longitudinal frames are made of plates and angle-irons, 
and are lightened at intervals by large oval holes. The cross-frames 
from the keel to the fourth longitudinal frame, and placed at distances 
apart of 4 feet, are made of short angle-irons extending only from one 
longitudinal to the other, to which they are connected by full plates, 
brackets, or angle-irons. The plates have the height of the correspond- 
ing longitudinal frames, and those belonging to one cross-frame are 
connected at the top by means of an angle-iron extending from side 
to side, through all the longitudinal frames and the keel. The outer 
skin is riveted to the longitudinal and cross-framing, and to the inner side 
of the latter is secured the second skin, over a length of 180 feet; the 
end cross-frames and nine intermediate ones have full plates, so as to 
form longitudinal water-tight compartments, which are again divided 
by the vertical keel, and are thus inclosed fore and aft by complete 
water-tight bulkheads. 

Similar water-tight compartments are formed by the frames fore and 
aft of the double bottom, so that the extreme ends are as far as possi- 
ble protected against casualty. Above the fourth longitudinal frame 
the distance between the cross-frames is 2 feet, and the latter extend 
from this longitudinal frame to the armor-framing, which runs from the 
front to the back, and which is constructed, like the longitudinal frame, 
of plates and angle-irons. The cross-framings above the armor-framing 
are thrown back as much as the thickness of the armor, inclusive of the 
teak backing, and consist of heavy angle-irons 9f by 3^ inches by J inch, 
which are fastened to the inner edge of the plates of the cross-frames 
above the fourth longitudinal, and which are provided at the outside 
with two angle-irons for the fastening of the outer skin behind the ar- 
mor. These frames behind the armor extend in the central part of the 
vessel, that is to say, within the limits of the armored casemate, to the 
upper deck; but fore and aft of the casemate to the battery-deck only, 
or the height of the armored belt for the two ends of the vessel. The 
extension of the frames at both sides of the casemate to the upper deck 
is formed of light angle-iron; the parts of the vessel above the battery- 
deck being altogether constructed of light material. A water-tight par- 
tition of plates strengthened by angle-irons is erected almost parallel 
w 7 ith the outer skin of the vessel at each side, over the length of the 



THE GERMAN NAVY. 221 

double bottom, and extends from the latter to the battery- deck, at a 
distance from the outer wall of the vessel of about 3 feet; these parti- 
tions connected with the double bottom and battery-deck form the 
bulkheads of the gangway, and they will serve to prevent the entrance 
of water during action into the other parts of the vessel. The space 
formed by these partitions and the outer skin is further divided longitudi- 
nally by water-tight cross-frames, so that even here only small spaces 
can be filled with water, which can easily be removed by pumps. The 
gangway will serve besides, during action, as a free passage to effect 
provisional repairs of damage done by shells. The outer skin of the 
vessel in the bottom has the almost uniform thickness of .6 inch, but is 
doubled at the two extreme ends. The skin behind the armor consists 
of two .62-inch plates, while that above it at the two ends of the armored 
casemate has a thickness of .4 inch. Much care was used in riveting 
up the hull, and rivets with a conical enlargement under the head cor- 
responding with the cone of the holes are used throughout. The decks 
are carried on girders of T and I irons. The upper deck is covered to 
a great extent, the battery-deck entirely, and the between-deck at sev- 
eral places, with iron plates from J to f inch thick, upon which are 
fastened the deck-planks; the places for the capstan, hawse-holes, timber- 
heads, &c, are especially strengthened, and the deck-beams are sup- 
ported by wrought-iron tubes which have under the turrets a diameter 
of 7J inches and a thickness of metal of § inch. The vessel is divided 
below the battery-deck by eleven water-tight cross-partitions into twelve 
compartments, which are connected with each other by water-tight 
doors. Two of these partitions, one at the front and the other at the 
rear of the casemate, extend to the upper deck, and serve between the 
latter and the battery-deck for the reception of armor-plates which are 
to protect the casemate against shells that may penetrate through the 
two ends of the vessel. 

Special care is taken to maintain effective communication between 
the pumps and the whole of the water-tight compartments. For this 
purpose an iron pipe, 12J inches in diameter, is placed close to and par- 
allel with the vertical keel-plate over the length of the double bottom ; 
from this pipe branches extend to the various compartments; the main 
pipe carries the accumulated water into a reservoir placed under the 
engine-room, whence it is pumped away by a 12£-inch Downton pump, 
as well as by all the pumps in connection with the machinery. Four 
9J-inch pumps are besides placed upon the battery-deck, each of which 
can draw the water from a certain number of compartments; one can 
also be used for filling the tanks with drinking-water. 

ARMOR. 

An armored casemate surrounds the two turrets, which project G feet 
2 inches above the upper deck. This casemate is separated from the 
fore and aft parts of the vessel by armored transverse bulkheads, while 
those parts are protected only between wind and water, by an armored 
belt reaching from about G feet 2 inches below water to the battery-deck. 
The armored casemate is 90 feet G inches long; rising through it from 
the battery-deck are the turrets; also a second steering-wheel, to be 
used during action. The armor-plates at the water-line are 9J inches 
thick, below the water 7| inches, and above water 8£ inches ; these 
thicknesses decrease toward the ends to 4 inches; behind these plates 
there is a backing of teak about 10.J inches thick, but varying with the 
thickness of plates. Angle-irons are used for fastening this layer of 
teak to the outer skin. The armor-plates are secured by means of bolts 
2£ inches in diameter, with conical heads fitting exactly in correspond- 



222 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

ing holes in the plates. The nuts of the bolts for the armor plates are 
provided with double washers, between which a thickness of rubber is 
placed, in order to prevent as far as possible the tearing off of the bolt- 
heads when the armor plates are struck by shot. The armored cross- 
walls have plates 5 inches thick, with a teak backing 8^ inches thick. 

TURRETS, ETC. 

The two turrets are each 26 feet 9 inches in diameter ; the shells are 
made in the usual way. They extend, as already stated, from the bat- 
tery-deck to 6 feet 2 inches above the upper deck, and are covered with 
armor only at the parts exposed above the upper deck. The plates of 
these turrets are 8J inches thick, with the exception of those through 
which the port-holes for the guns are cut, and which have a thickness 
of 10J inches. The teak backing between the shells and armor-plates 
is 8J inches in thickness. These turrets revolve around strong cast-iron 
center-pins, secured vertically upon the battery-deck, and the outer cir- 
cumferences of the turrets take their weights, and revolve on conical 
rollers, running upon rails laid on the deck. Each turret is operated 
by a high-pressure engine with two cylinders 10J by 10J inches, besides 
which, hand-gear for working by manual labor is provided. The ammu- 
nition is brought from the battery-deck into the turrets through open- 
ings, the tops of which are covered by plates 1 inch thick. The port- 
sills of the turrets are 13 feet 5J inches above the water-line. 

The armament in the turrets consists of four Krupp rifled guns, about 
10J inches in bore and 22 tons in weight, besides a lighter gun forward 
and one aft. 

The upper deck is provided only in the middle above the turrets with 
a light platform for the reception of the chart-house, and there is a raised 
forecastle. A light screen for the protection of the crew from the sea is 
arranged so that it may be laid down, in order to be out of the way of 
the guns of the turrets, which lie close to the upper deck. 

The Preussen has three masts, made to be used as ventilating-tubes, 
and she is a full-rigged frigate. The motive engines are of the three- 
cylinder type, and the boilers of the box variety. The screw is fixed, 
and fitted to revolve when the ship is under sail. 

MATERIALS. 

The following are the weights of materials used for the hull of the 
vessel, the masts, and the turrets : Plates, 1,375 tons ; angle-irons, 600 
tons ; bar-iron and large forgings ? 33 tons ; iron for rivets, 115 tons 
cast iron, 100 tons. 

Exceptional strength of material was required. For the plates two 
qualities were specified, the first to be used for all main parts, such as 
the keel, longitudinal frames, outer skin, deck-plates, &c, while the 
other quality was used for the cross frames, gangways, coal-bunker, and 
transverse bulkheads, &c. The tests were made as follows: Out of 
each five tons of plate one sample plate was selected, of which, again, 
sample pieces were taken, which had to be tested for absolute aud rela- 
tive strengths, with and across the fibers, both cold and hot. In order 
to test the absolute strength, the sample-pieces were torn asunder by 
means of a testing-machine ; the pressure required for plates of the first 
quality was, for longitudinal strain, 49,677 pounds per square inch • for 
cross strain, 40,477 pounds per square inch ; for plates of the second 
quality, in the longitudinal direction, 44,705 pouuds per square inch ; 
and for cross strain, 39,000 pounds per square inch. The relative 
strength of the plates was tested by bending them over the rounded 
corner of a test-plate up to a certain angle, both cold and hot, by means 
of slight blows with a hammer. The angles differ for the various thick- 



THE GERMAN NAVY. 223 

nesses and qualities of plates, and the iron must show no fracture or 
cracks. For angle-iron and special sections one quality only is allowed, 
which must sustain in tension a strain of 49,677 pounds per square inch. 
Great care was also taken in the forging tests. All the materials were 
furnished by German manufacturers, except the stern-post and the 
armor-plates. 

THE SACHSEN. 

The Sachsen is the first of the second group of German armored ships; 
she was built by the Yulcan Engineering Works at Bredow, near Stettin, 
and was launched July 21, 1877, three others of the same class being in 
process of construction. 

The dimensions of the Sachsen are : Length between perpendiculars, 
213 feet 3 inches; breadth, extreme, 51 feet 4 inches; depth, 26 feet 3 
inches ; load draught of water, 19 feet 8 inches, and displacement, 7,135 
tons. She is a double-turreted citadel- vessel, similar in many respects 
to the late English designs, but having the turrets placed on the line 
with the keel. A German writer describes the vessel in this manner : 

The conditions to be satisfied by this class, in their role of chief defenders of the 
German coast, are light draught, in order to be able to enter the eastern harbors, and 
equality in offensive and defensive strength with the armored ships of opposing 
nations. These demands have been carried out in the calculations for the building 
and equipment, wherein many new arrangements and departures from earlier contriv- 
ances show themselves. 

The application of iron-clad frigates to the business of fighting on the high seas 
demands, also, a strong armor to give sufficient resistance to the ever-increasing cali- 
ber of the enemies' guns, without drawing the limits of mobility, maneuvering, and 
seaworthiness too narrow. After entering into considerations from this point of view, 
the armoring of the ship the whole length of the water-line was deemed unnecessary ; 
furthermore, it was considered sufficient if this armor existed as a casemate only and 
in the middle of the ship for the protection of the machinery, &c. The application of 
side armor was therefore entirely renounced. 

In order to limit the depth of the destruction of the unarmored side walls of the ship 
along the water-line, but chiefly to insure the whole under part of the vessel against 
destruction by shot, an iron-clad deck is built forward and abaft the armored casemate 
about 6 feet 6 inches under water, so that the under part of the ship is completely 
closed from above, and a destruction of the side walls to this deck only is possible. A 
cork girdle about 3 feet 3 inches wide and of the same thickness is fastened on the in- 
side, forward and abaft the casemate, for the protection of the ship against sinking in 
case of damage by shot to the unarmored part. For further security to the remainder, 
the under portion of the ship is divided into a great number of cells. The whole in- 
terior is next divided into right and left halves by a water-tight bulkhead, built upon 
the keel and running the whole length. Each of these halves is again divided by six- 
teen water-tight cross-walls into just as many closed parts, and each of these parts 
by the arrangement of a water-tight inner ship-bottom, parallel to the outer, with the 
intervening space subdivided by the frames, is again split up by vertical and hori- 
zontal walls; so that the ship's body under water presents a web of 120 cells. As the 
joints of each cell are closely made, a leak caused by a ram-thrust or a torpedo can 
only affect a small part of the ship. A system of pump attachments is provided for 
the speedy expulsion of water from any leaky cell. 

The casemate is protected from above by a 2-inch wrought-iron deck. Upon this 
are situated two armored turrets in the line of the keel, the after one receiving four 
10i-incli gnus, and the forward turret one 12-inch gun. In the after turret is placed a 
somewhat higher commanding pilot-house. A Lance-shaped ram, about feet 10 inches 
long, fastened to the bow, serves as the second weapon. A contrivance for the launch- 
ing of torpedoes constitutes the third weapon. 

For propelling the vessel, there are two separate pairs of engines, each working up 
to 2,bOo horse-power, and driving each a four-bladed screw-propeller. The requisite 
Steam is generated by eight boilers in four groups of two in each group. They are 
situated so that, the coal can be very conveniently passed into the lire-room. 

Forward and abaft the casemate and above the cells are built quarters for the offi- 
cers and crew, and upon the bow is still another structure, mounted for protection 
against heavy seas. This last is built narrower than the first, to permit a forward I'm 
from the two after guns. 

Special machinery is prepared for ventilation, steering, hoisting anchors, and pump- 
ing, and in all remaining relations the contrivances of modern designs are carried out 
so as to fashion the most complete fighting apparatus possible. 



224 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

OTHER VESSELS. 

Germany has now twenty-four armored ships afloat, five of which are 
turret-ships, viz, the Preussen, the Friedrich der Grosse, the Grosser 
Kurfurst, the Sachsen, and the Baiem. The first of these was built at 
the private dock-yard of the Yulcan Company, near Stettin, and was 
launched in 1873 ; the second was built at Ellerbeck, near Kiel, launched 
in 1874, and completed at the Kiel dock-yard ; the third was constructed 
at the Wilhelmshafen dock-yard, launched in 1875, and at the date of 
my visit was sufficiently advanced toward completion to receive the 
armor-plates and turrets ; the last two, of recent construction, the Sach- 
sen completed, and the Baiem in process of construction, have already 
been mentioned, and there are two others commenced. The first three 
vessels are full-rigged ships, constructed after the model of the British 
ship Monarch, and engined by German factories. The boilers of the 
Grosser Kurfiirst are of the old box type, with 680 square feet of grate, 
and 17,730 square feet of heating surface, and the engines are intended 
to be worked either compound or non-compound, as desired, an arrange- 
ment, in view of the low pressure of steam, not to be commended. The 
last-named two are turreted vessels embodying all the improvements 
of the present day, as may be seen from the description of the Sadism. 

The Germans have also three broadside-frigates, viz, the Konig Wit- 
helm, built at the Thames Iron Works, London, and at the time of her 
construction reckoned to be a powerful vessel ; * the Kronprinz, built 
by Samuda, on the Thames ; and the Friedrich Karl, built in France, 
near Toulon. Besides the two citadel-frigates, the Kaiser and Deutsch- 
land, above described, there are also the armored corvette Hansa; the 
sea-going monitors Arminius and Prinz Adalbert, the latter built in 
France, and the former by Samuda, at Poplar, on the Thames; and 
five armored gunboats, two launched in 1876 and three in 1877, each 
of 1,000 tons displacement and carrying one 12-inch gun. Besides the 
above-mentioned vessels, they have eight new unarmored corvettes. 
The old wooden corvettes, such as the Rertha and Medusa, and other 
vessels with auxiliary steam-power, are obsolete, and may be considered 
useless as fighting- vessels. The Germans also have six dispatch-boats 
and yachts, and fifteen wooden gunboats. 

No originality has yet been exhibited in naval architecture or marine 
engineering by the German constructors. In commencing to build a 
navy it has been thought wise, in consideration of the great and varied 
experience of the English, to repeat the types which they have tried and 
found successful, and as a consequence of the long time it has taken the 
Germans to build an armored ship, their earlier vessels, although recently 
completed, are far below the standard of modern fighting-ships. But 
those last devised and put afloat in 1877 are represented, as may be 
seen from the descriptions, to possess the improvements and advantages 
of recently-constructed armored vessels. And, although Germany will 
have nothing to match the British mastless armored sea-going ships, or 
the Italian Duilio, Dayidolo, and other such powerfully-armored craft, 
their armored fleet will soon possess a degree of strength sufficient, per- 
haps, to meet the French under any conditions proffered. Besides, the 
German naval authorities have not overlooked the progress being made 
in other countries in the construction of rapid unarmored ships, and 
with a view of keeping pace, in this respect, with other powers, four of 

* The Konig JVilhelm was designed by Mr. E. J. Reed, C. B., M. P., for the Turkish 
Government, and was originally called the Fatikh. She was sold daring her construc- 
tion to the Prussian Government. — An English Naval Architect. 



THE GERMAN NAVY. 225 

the recently-constructed corvettes are provided with power sufficient 
for a speed of 14 knots per hour, the Sedan having averaged this speed 
on the trials. Others of still greater speed are projected, and one fine 
specimen of a torpedo-boat, the Ziethen, hereafter to be described, made 
16£ knots per hour on the measured mile 5 another, also, is designed. 

The German ships are armed with the Krupp breech-loading steel 
guns, the weight and power of which are being steadily increased ; their 
iron-ship- building yards and engineering works are being rapidly devel- 
oped; their youug constructors and engineers are under systematic, 
practical training, and in all branches of ship construction they are now 
no longer dependent on foreign countries. 

DOCK-YARDS. 

The two principal naval dock-yards of Imperial Germany are located 
at Kiel, on the Baltic, and Wilhelmshafen,* on the North Sea. The far, 
ter invited special attention and examination, not only because of ii s 
greater importance as a construction-yard, but also in consequence of 
its being the most modern of all the European dock-yards. It was I 111I 
out on clear ground as late as 1871, and the works were commenced 
with an appropriation for them of about $10,000,000. The engineer 
selected by the Admiralty at Berlin to make the designs and plans, 
made visits of observation and study to the leading European yards 
previous to beginning his work. The plans subsequently produced by 
him for this important naval establishment, and from which the works 
and buildings up to this time have been constructed, are most excellent in 
their general arrangement as well as in the design of the buildings 
themselves. Those already completed present an outward uniform ap- 
peal ance not found in dock-yards elsewhere. They are built one story 
high, of stone, brick, iron, and glass; and such of them as are to be 
used for mechanical operations are grouped in three spans to each 
building, and well lighted from the sides as well as from the roofs. 
These are supplied with the best kind of machinery and appliances. 
Several buildings are yet to be erected on sites proper y located on tie 
general plan, and one novel arrangement in the design, but. not y< t 
commenced, is a canal to convey fresh water from a distance into the 
basin in the yard. 

To the original harbor, opened in 1870, there have been added in the 
last five years three stone dry-docks, two building slips, a basin for the 
equipment of ships, a torpedo-harbor, a boat-harbor, and a mercantile 
harbor, accessible by special locks. Artillery aud torpedo establish- 
ments, likewise, have grown in importance. 

Similar progress is visible at Kiel. The large naval port at Ellerbeck, 
with its four dry-docks, will be opened at an early day. Three ship- 
houses are ready for use, and improvements in the works are progress- 
ing. 

Dantzig, the third naval center and base of maritime operations, has 
an iron fioatiug-dock with a shallow basin, and three building slips are 
being constructed. To render the Vistula accessible to vessels of large 
size, the mouth of the river is about to be deepened, which will consid- 
erably enhance the naval facilities of the place. 

The following tables, kindly furnished for the most part by the liberal 
German authorities, will show the dimensions, &c, of the aimored and 
unarmored vessels of the empire. 

* The plan of the Wilhului&halen dock-yard has been omitted here, but may bo ^u d 
in the first edition of this report. 
15 K 



226 



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THE GERMAN NAVY. 



227 



Unarm<yred ships of Germany. 





Vessel. 


Arma- 
ment. 


Machinery. 




Name of ship. 


Class. 


a 

o 
2 » 

a S 

03 

Q 


05 

c 
Sic 
o 

H 

a 
pi 


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Remarks. 




Line-of-battle ship.. 


5, 432 
3,863 

3,863 
2,460 

2,460 
2,460 
2,460 
2, 429 
2,228 
2,228 
1,954 
1,665 
1,665 
1, 768 
1,768 
1,164 
1,164 
1,697 


21 
12 

12 
16 

16 
16 

16 

18 

19 

19 

6 

6 

6 

10 
10 
9 
9 
2 


i 

i 
i 
i 
i 
i 

i 
i 


2,960 
4,735 

4, 735 

2, 817 

2,817 
2,817 
2,817 
2,368 
1,480 
1,480 
2,368 
2,070 
2,070 
1,280 
1,280 
790 
790 
2,960 


u 

14 
15 

15 
15 
15 






Iron ; covered gun- 
deck. 




do 




do 


Iron ; covered gan- 
deck. 
Do. 




..do 


Moltke 


...do 


Do. 




do 


Do. 




...do .. 






. .do 


Do. 




...do 


Do. 




...do 


Open gun-deek. 
Do. 




. . do . . . 




....do 


Do. 




...do 


Do. 




..do 


Do. 




.do 


Do. 




do 


Do. 




Dispatch- vessel 









Two more vessels of the Bismarck class are intended to be added to 
the fleet. Their length is 244 feet 5 inches; breadth, 45 feet 1 inch; 
probable draught, 19 feet 8 inches; the calibre of their guns is 5 inches, 
and their 3-cylinder engines are to be built by Egells. 

Besides the above, there are 5 dispatch-vessels, 16 gunboats, 2 trans- 
ports, 4 torpedo boats, 14 harbor-service vessels, and 14 sailing-vessels, 
receiving-ships, hulks, &c. 

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HERR FRIED. KRUPP, AND HIS 

GUNS. 

The most extensive as well as the most important steel-works and 
gun-manufactory in the world are those of Herr Krupp, located near 
Essen, in Rhenish Prussia. Established in 1810, it has from small 
beginnings grown to its present importance by extraordinary skill, busi- 
ness capacity, and energy, chiefly through the life-time of the present 
proprietor. 

The ground occupied for all purposes is about 500 acres, one-half of 
Which is under cover. 

The following statistics, taken on the spot, will convey an idea of 
the magnitude of these works: Number ot smeltmg-furnaces, 250; an- 
nealing furnaces, 390; heating-furnaces, 1GL; welding and puddling 
furnaces, 115 ; cupola and reverberatory furnaces, 33 ; and furnaces of 
other kinds, 100; coke-ovens, 275; smiths' forges, 264; number of steam- 
engines, 298, varying in horse-power from 2 to 1,000 each, aud supplied 
with steam by 298 boilers; number of steam hammers, 77, varying in 
weight from 250 pounds to 50 tons; number of rolling-trains, 18; num- 
ber of machine-tools, 1,063, viz: 365 turning-lathes; 82 shaping-ma- 
chines; 199 boring-machines; 107 planing-machines ; 42 punching aud 
shearing-machines; 32 pressing- machines; 03 grinding -machines ; 31 
glazing and polishing machines ; and 142 machines of other kinds. In 
1876, the number of workmen employed was 10,500, besides about 5,0U0 
more in the mines and at the blast-furnaces. 



228 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

The articles of steel manufactured are guns, gun-carriages, shot and 
shell, shafts and other pieces of machinery, and boiler-plates for steam- 
ers; axles, tires, wheels, rails, springs, &c, for railways; rolls, tool-steel, 
&c. Ingots for guns are cast from crucibles in the usual way, but the 
method of preparing the steel is not made known. In one of the cast- 
ing-houses accommodation is provided for 1,600 crucibles. 

The number of persons who are granted the privilege of visiting the 
establishment is limited, being chiefly confined to people of distinction 
known to the proprietor, representatives of foreign governments or 
officers armed with authority from their governments to acquire in- 
formation. 

This celebrated establishment has furnished guns for armaments on 
land and sea to every European power, England and France excepted - T 
weapons varying in size from the smallest field-piece used in the Franco- 
German war to the heaviest gun mounted in the German Empire. 

THE GREAT KRUPP STEEL BREECH-LOADER. 

For the drawing representing this piece of ordnance, the most power- 
ful breech-loading gun ever constructed, I am indebted to the proprietor 
of the works. The general dimensions being marked thereon, an idea 
of its magnitude may be formed. In like manner with all guns manu- 
factured at the Krupp Works, it is made wholly of crucible steel, and the 
rifling is on the poly groove system, the elongated projectile being rotated 
by means of a gas-check. 

Colonel Wilhelmi, of the imperial royal Austrian marine, in a report 
on the Krupp breech-loading system, wrote that " Krupp's cyliudro- 
prismatical wedge with Broad well ring, the best breech apparatus 
known, requires for its manufacture uncommon mechanical appliances 
and great technical skill/' 

Originally the Krupp guns were made from forged solid ingots, but 
of recent years they have been built up by shrinking hoops over a tube 
in a manner similar to those of Woolwich, the several parts being made 
of steel of different qualities, that for the inner barrel of hard and elastic 
quality, and that for the outer portions becoming more soft and ductile 
as the exterior is approached. The exact kind of material to be used 
for each portion of the gun has been ascertained by long experience 
and at great cost. The design is such that, even after the elastic limit 
of the material has been reached, much work may be done in perma- 
nently stretching the ductile metal before the limit of fracture is arrived 
at, and thus there is obtained a large margin of safety. It was the 
smallness of the margin existing between the limits of elasticity and 
rupture in respect to certain kinds of steel formerly used which rendered 
a gun so liable to burst explosively. It is believed that Krupp guns in 
the future will be characterized by success, being the result of patient 
perseverance, scientific investigation, and a liberal expenditure for ex- 
perimental inquiry. 

The great gun recently manufactured is not only the heaviest breech- 
loader and heaviest steel piece, but also the heaviest gun of any kind 
ever made on the continent of Europe. (The largest piece previously 
made is the one exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition and mentioned 
already in this report.) It has not yet been tested, but the work ex- 
pected of it has been closely estimated, and for comparison between the 
three greatest guns of the present day the following table is presented :* 

*For des< riptions of the system of constructing the e guns, see a Treatise on Ordnance, 
by A. L. Holley, B. P., and a Report on the Artillery of Europe, by Captain Simpson. U. 

S.N. 




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THE KKUPP BREECH-LOADING GUN. 



229 



Armstrong. 



100-ton gun. 



Material 

Actual weight of gun 

Total length of gun 

External diameter at breech 

(greatest). 
^External diameter at muzzle, 

Diameter of bore 

Length of bore 

X umber of grooves in barrel. 
Size of grooves in barrel . . . 

"Weight of projectile 

"Weight of charge (powder) 
Velocity of projectile in feet 
per second. 



Steel barrel and wrought 
iron rings. 

101.5 tons 

32 feet 10J inches 

77 inches 

29 inches 

17 inches 

30 feet 6 inches 

27 

1 inch wide by i inch 
deep. 

2.000 pounds , 

375 pounds 

1,543.8 feet actual 



"Woolwich. 



Krupp. 



81-ton gun. 



Steel barrel and wrou^ 
iron rings. 

81 tons. 

27 feet 4| inches 

72 inches 



ht- 



24 inches . 
16 inches. 
24 feet.... 
13 



1,700 pounds 

370 pounds 

1,523 feet, actual. 



Breech-loader. 



Steel barrel and steel 

rings. 
70.682 tons. 
32 feet 9| inches. 
60.14 inches. 



23.62 inches. 

15.75 inches. 

28 feet 6| inches. 

90. ' 

0.372 incb wide 

0.078 inch deep 
1,664.47 pounds. 
385.8 pounds. 
1,640.45 feet (est 

mated). 



by 



The Armstrong aud the Woolwich guns have been made exper ment- 
ally in advance of the service weapons for the Italian ships and the 
Inflexible. The velocity in feet per second given for the projectile of the 
former is far from what is expected to be achieved in the service guns 
haviug a bore of 17f inches and powder-chamber of 19| inches, and the 
velocity given for the Woolwich gun is that attained before its powder- 
chamber was enlarged j therefore no correct comparison in this respect 
can be made until further trial with them, aud until the Krupp gun 
also be put on its trial tests. 

It is no less surprising than interesting to look back upon the guns 
with which ships of war were armed, even up to a comparatively late 
period, and to compare them with the guns now iu existence, to say 
nothing of those contemplated. At the commencement of the present 
century the largest naval guns were of cast iron, throwing a projectile of 
32 pounds weight. Twenty-pouuder carronades constituted a consider- 
able portion of the armament of many of the best ships in the principal 
Euio >ean navies. As late as the period of the war carried on by Eng- 
land and France against Russia, 68-pounders were the largest guns in 
the fleets, these being, like their less formidable predecessors, cast-iron 
smooth-bores and in most cases mounted upon wooden truck-carriages. 
Occasionally they were employed for chase purposes, and were mounted 
on slide-carriages which rested on metal radius plates secured to the 
deck ; these were then considered very heavy ordnance. The revolution in 
the art of constructing artillery which the past ten or fifteen years have 
witnessed is chiefly due to improvements in mechanical appliances and 
in the manufacture of wrought iron and steel.* It would be an im- 
possibility to make satisfactory cast-iron guns of such an enormous size 
as would be required to discharge projectiles of from 1,700 to 2,500 pounds 
in weight. No thickness of metal, however great, iu a homogeneous cyl- 
inder, can withstand a pressure per square inch exceeding the tenacity 

*Any one who examines the old guns iu the museums of artillery at Berlin, Vienna, 
Venice, Paris, and in the Tower of London, may see that they are of the same genus aa 
modern smooth-bores, and may even notice some specimens quite as soundly aud artist- 
ically cast as any of those of the present time. Moreover, from an examination of the 
wonderful piece of ordnance in the old castle at Edinburgh, Scotland, it may be seen 
that attempts to produce heavy wrought-irou guus were made nearly two hundred 
years ago. This piece of artillery was made by forming the barrel of wrought-irou 
staves and hooping it with rings of the same material. The diameter of the bore is 
about 12 inches, antl the projectiles used were stones, spherical in shape. The want 
of proper materials and facilities alone prevented success at that early day in the man- 
ufacture of ordnance. 



230 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAK, ETC. 

per inch of bar of the same metal. Guns manufactured by casting 
iron or bronze in molds cannot be made of sufficient strength to with- 
stand more than a certain pressure within them ; the inner portions 
receive the brunt of the explosion while the outer portions remain almost 
quiescent, consequently there is a certain amount of idle metal on the 
exterior ; besides, the expansion of the interior of a thick cylinder of the 
same metal by explosive heat, while the exterior metal retains a lower 
temperature, is an element of weakness. 

To Sir W. Armstrong is due the credit of first successfully employing 
the principle of initial tension for all the parts of a gun. He employed 
wrought-iron coils, shrunk one over another in such a manner that the 
inner tube was placed in a state of compression, and the outer portions 
in a state of tension, the amount of tension being so regulated that each 
coil should perform its maximum amount of useful effect in resisting the 
pressure from within. The fiber of the coils was arranged in the best 
position for resisting circumferential strain, and he employed a forged 
breech-piece in which the fiber ran parallel with the axis of the gun, in 
order to give longitudinal strength. Steel tubes were gradually intro- 
duced, until finally the use of wrought-iron tubes was entirely discarded r 
except in the case of the cast-iron converted guns. But the Armstrong 
gun was a costly weapon. The coils were thin and numerous, besides 
which the large forging for the breech-piece was very expensive. There 
was also an element of weakness exhibited in the case of a gun w T hich 
split some of its outer coils while the interior ones remained uninjured, 
thus proving that the outer coils were unable to take their proper share 
of the strain. In 1865, Mr. Eraser proposed his important modification 
of the system. This consists in using larger coils made of thicker bars, 
and so much stronger longitudinally that the forged breech -piece be- 
comes unnecessary. The greater weight and strength of these coils 
also allow compression to be given more certainly to the steel barrel 
and the inner coils. In this construction, moreover, the trunnion-ring, 
which was merely shrunk on to the Armstrong guns, and occasionally 
slipped, is welded to the breech coil. 

The materials at present used for the Woolwich guns consist of mild 
steel toughened in oil for the inner tube, and good ductile wrought iron 
for the remaining portion of the gun. Capt. John F. Owen, K. A., in 
his recent treatise on Ordnance in the British Service, says: 

Thousands of rifled guns have thus heen made, from the 9-pounder, weighing but 6 
hundred-weight, to the 16-inch of 80 tous weight; and not one has hurst explosively 
on service, nor has the sacrifice of a single life heen due to their breaking up uuder 
service c( n "itions. No built-up gun of wrought iron and steel of the present manufac- 
ture has faiJed from any defect due to the materials of which it was made. A very 
different result appears where cast iron has been used, either alone or strengthened by 
hoops, 

As experience proved long before the attack on Fort Fisher, guns 
made from solid forgings, whether of wrought iron or steel, have a tragic 
history, the bursting of the Stockton gun on board the United States 
steamer Princeton in the Potomac River in 1843, by which several 
members of President Tyler's cabinet were killed, being a case in point. 
It must be added, however, that great improvements in the manufacture 
of heavy forgings have been made since that day. 

The greater cost of steel as compared with wrought iron has of course 
been a matter of some consideration ; besides which, previous to the 
great advance made in the production of good steel, its uncertainty, 
especially in the higher and harder grades, weighed greatly against it* 
This uncertainty having been overcome by long experience and costly 



THE KRUPP BREECH-LOADING GUN. 231 

experiments, it is admitted that hardness, homogeneity, high elasticity, 
and great tenacity make steel a most satisfactory gun -metal, by which 
the same power may be obtained with reduced weight of metal. It is 
believed that the production of steel will be still further improved, so 
that cast instead of forged tubes and rings may be used for the manu- 
facture of guns, thereby reducing the cost. 

In the construction of the great guns and the experiments with them, 
which have been carried on at an enormous cost, something of value 
seems to have been learned at every step ; the kind of powder, the form 
of cartridge, the space to be allowed for the powder, the mode of firing, 
the cartridge, the system of rifling, and the means of giving rotation to 
the shot, all are matters which have either undergone change or are 
undergoing a change at the present time. 

The effect of chambering guns is also the subject of experiment, and 
the value of such an arrangement shows itself both in the 80-ton gun and 
in smaller weapons. A further change is recognized in respect to the 
abolition of the studded projectile. The effort to produce an efficient 
gas-check, so as to prevent erosion, has led to the discovery that gas- 
checks are capable of replacing the unpopular and objectionable studs. 

Captain Owen, R. A., says, again : 

The necessity of progress is recognized, for, in artillery as in other matters, not to 
advance is to go back. The new guns have shown that they possess admirable accu- 
racy and great power. The results achieved with the 80-ton gun are far in excess of 
those which were originally demanded. It is calculated that this gun will be made 
to give its projectile of 1,700 pounds weight a muzzle velocity of 1,620 feet per second, 
or an energy of 30,935 foot-tons, equal to the penetration of 28-J- inches of iron plate 
at 1,000 yards, or 26 inches at 2,000 yards. These results, however, are to be completely 
outstripped by the new Armstrong 100-ton guns recently shipped to Italy for the Dullio. 
These guns have a caliber of 17f inches and a powder-chamber of 19f inches, instead 
of a uniform bore of 17 inches as in the experimental gun tested at Spezia. The 
charge of powder is to be about 470 pounds, and the projectiles 2,280 and 2,500 pounds. 

As great as the results already achieved are, guns have been designed 
of still greater magnitude. The drawings made for one intended to be 
manufactured at Woolwich show that it is to weigh between 160 and 
200 tons j it is to be capable of sending a projectile through 36 inches 
of iron at a range of 1,000 yards. 

The great Prussian manufacturer of artillery has a design already pre- 
pared for a gun to weigh 124 tons, and to be made on the same plan as 
the one just described. The larger weapon will have a caliber slightly 
exceeding 18 inches, and is to throw a steel shell weighing 2,205 pounds, 
or a chilled-iron shell of 2,271 pounds, and the charge of powder will 
probably be about 500 pounds. 

The designs for other monsters of yet more terrible power have been 
made at the Elswick Works for the great Italian ships Italia and 
Lepanto. It is reported that the length of one of these weapons will be 
50 feet, the length of the bore 44 feet, and the diameter of the bore 21 
inches. The charge of powder will weigh 950 pounds, and the projectile, 
5 feet in length, will weigh 6,000 pounds. This gun is calculated to be 
able to throw its shot a distance of 12 miles, exceeding in range by one- 
fourth of the distance the 100-ton gun, which is said to throw a bolt a 
distance of 9 miles. 

Note. — Since the above was written, I have heard from the best authority that it is 
doubtful whether larger guns than those of 100 tons' weight will be used on these 
vessels. 



ZPJk.IR.T ZX^T. 



THE ITALIAN NAVY. 

THE DUILIO; THE 100-TON GUN; THE DANDOLO; THE 

ITALIA AND LEPANTO; THE CRIST0F0R0 COLOMBO; 

CRUISING- VESSELS; DOCK- YARDS; TABLE OF 

DIMENSIONS, ETC., OF ARMORED 

SHIPS OF ITALY. 



233 



THE ITALIAN NAVY. 



The fleet of which Italy could actually dispose at the beginning of 
1876 was composed as follows : Fourteen armored ships, of which six 
were already armed and constituted the permanent squadron of the 
Mediterranean, four were ready to be armed at short notice, and four 
required considerable repairs before they could be sent to sea ; seven 
gunboats, of which three were outside the Mediterranean, two armed 
and in the Mediterranean, and two ready to be armed ; nine wooden 
frigates or corvettes, of which two were beyond the Mediterranean, 
three armed and in Italian ports, two capable of being armed in a few 
days, and two others requiring repairs ; six dispatch-boats, of which 
three were armed, one of which could be ready for sea at short notice 
and two after a few weeks; six transports, of which the largest three 
were armed ; and eighteen smaller vessels, of which one was on foreign 
service, three armed, and fourteen ready to be armed. These ships 
carry a total of 490 guns, of which 30 on the armored ships are of heavy 
caliber. From an English journal we gather the following : 

By a decree which has been recently issued [July, 1877], the ships of the Italian navy 
have been reclassified. Henceforth they are to be divided into three categories, distin- 
guished as A, men-of-war ; B, auxiliary ships of the fleet ; C, local ships. The first cate- 
gory is again divided into three classes. In the first of these are placed [fourteen J men- 
of-war, fit to take part in every kind of naval warfare. These vessels are the Duilio, the 
Dandolo, the Italia, the Lepanto, the Paleslro, the Principe Amadeo, the Venezia, the Roma, 
the Ancona, the Castelfidardo, the Maria Pia, the San Martina, the Conte Verde, and 
Affondatore. To the second class belong ten ships, destined for employment on special 
missions, such as protecting Italian commerce in time of war, defending the coasts, 
cruising on distant stations, &c. These ten vessels are the armored corvettes Terribile 
and Formidabile, the armored gunboat Varese, the screw-frigates Vittorio Emanuele and 
Maria Adelaide, the screw-corvettes Vettor Pisani, Caracciolo, and Garibaldi, the cruiser 
Cristoforo Colombo, and the paddle-wheel steamer Governolo. To the third class of the 
same category belong twenty gunboats. The second category, that of auxiliary ships 
of the fleet, is also divided into three classes — the first consisting of cavalry-transport 
vessels of over 3,000 tons, the second of transport-ships of between 1,000 and 3,000 tons, 
and the third of paddle-wheel and screw steamers of between 200 and 1,000 tons. The 
third category — that, namely, of local ships — comprises all vessels of below 200 tons 
and tenders employed at the dock-yards and arsenals. 

Of the ships enumerated, the Duilio will probably not be completed 
until the beginning of the year 1879, and the Dandolo a year later. The 
Italia has only recently beeu commenced, and the designs for the Lepanto 
are not yet completed. The armored fleet actually afloat and now in 
service embraces only four really good sea-going ships, viz, the Prin- 
cipe Amadeo, Palestro, Roma, and Venezia; neither, however, has more 
than six inches of armor-plating, and in general efficiency they may be 
ranked after the British ships of the Audacious class. Their armament 
is considered powerful for ships of their class, especially that of the tirst- 
named vessel, aud here it may be remarked that the Italian ships gen- 
erally have been noted for the weight of their ordnance. The Principe 
Amadeo and Palestro each carries one 23-ton Armstrong gun and 
six 18-ton guns. The Roma and Venezia, although of more recent de- 
sign, carry six 18-ton and 2 12 ton guns. After these four the most 
powerful is the Affondatore, a turret-ship built at the Millwall Iron 
Works about eight years ago. Her armor plating, however, is only five 

235 



236 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

inches thick, and she carries nothing heavier than 12-ton guns. The 
whole of the completed portion of the armored fleet consists of ships 
ranging from 2,700 to 5,780 tons displacement, and, except in the cases 
mentioned, the armor is about four inches thick and the guns mounted 
in a long tier on each broadside. 

At present, therefore, the fighting naval force of Italy may have a 
value, relative to other navies, of 25.5, England having 100 as assigned 
hy M. Marchal in his work Les Navires de Guerre les plus recents. 

The present unarmored fleet consists of one corvette of the rapid type, 
the Cristoforo Colombo; three wooden frigates, the Vittorio Emanuele, the 
Garibaldi, and the Maria Adelaide ; two screw-corvettes, the Caracciolo 
and the Vettor Pisani ; four paddle-wheel corvettes, the Guiscardo, Go- 
vernolo, Archimede, and Ettore Fieramosca ; six screw-transports, the 
Europa, Washington, Gitta di Genova, Gitta di Napoli, Gotite Cavour, and 
the Bora ; five gunboats, the Veloce, ISentinella, Guardiano, Ardita, and 
Confidenza ; two screw dispatch-boats, the Bapido and Vedetta ; five 
paddle-wheel dispatch-boats, the Sesia, Esploratore, Garigliano, Anthion, 
and Sirena, with many smaller vessels. 

The changes and improvements in all branches of administration and 
industry during the past quarter of a century, and especially iu mechan- 
ical works, force themselves on the observation of one acquainted with 
Italian ports and cities in years past. The spirit of advancement and pro- 
gress is seen to particular advantage in the reconstruction of the navy. 
So far has it been pushed here that the late minister of marine at Eome, 
when he took office, is said to have condemned as obsolete, and recom- 
mended the sale of no less than seven armored ships out of the total of 
fifteen, although some of these condemned vessels were quite new, 
because they did not reach the standard set up for modern fighting- ves- 
sels. The plan has not yet been carried out in its entirety, and prob- 
ably will not be until after the more formidable ships now under con- 
struction shall have been completed. 

THE DUILIO AND DANDOLO. 

These two powerful armored sister ships, the outlines of which are 
here given, are building, the former at Castellamare,* and the latter at 
Spezia, in the Mediterranean. They have been designed to outdo the 
British Inflexible and every other fighting-ship afloat. 

The Duilio was commenced at Castellamare in 1872, and launched in 
May, 1876, and the Dandolo was commenced a year later. For their 
general de. ig i the naval authorities accepted the view of the British 
committee on designs, and trust for both buoyancy and stability to their 
unarmored raft ; moreover, they placed the turrets as they are located 
in the Inflexible, f 

The following principal dimensions and elements of these two ships 
have been furnished by the kindness of the minister of marine at Borne : 

Dimensions, weights, $c. 

Dailio and Dandolo. 

Year in which their construction was commenced 1872 and 1873. 

Year in which they will be entirely completed 1878 and 1879. 

Navy-yards in which they are building Castellamare and Spezia. 

Navy-yard in which they will be completed Spezia. 

* The Dailio was steamed around the Bay of Naples, November 9, 1877, for a prelim- 
inary trial of the machinery, and has probably been taken to Spezia. 

t Mr. Reed described the principle upon which the Duilio and the Dandolo have 
been built to the committee of naval designs in 1871, the idea then haviug be-m quite 
new. See the printed report of evidence given before the committee. — An English 
Naval Architect. 



THE ITALIAN NAVY. 237 

Dnilio and Dando'o. 

Material of which the vessels are built Iron. 

Number of compartments into which each vessel is divided 102 

Weight of hull alone, in tons 3, 395. 5 

Length between perpendiculars, in feel and iuches 340 11 

Breadth of beam, extreme, in feet and inches 64 9 

Depth of hold, in feet and inches 21 11 

Draught of water, forward, in feet and inches 25 5 

Draught of water, aft, in feet aud inches 26 5 

Displacement at deep load-line, in tons . . 10, 401 

Area of immersed midship section, in square feet 1, 466. 6 

Projection of ram forward of perpendicular, in feet 9 

Immersion of the same at deep load-line, in feet 14 

Number of turrets - 2 

System of turrets Revolving. 

Diameter of interior of turrets, in feet and inches 25 9 

Thickness of armor at waier-line, in inches 21. 65 

Thickness of armor at upper redoubt, in inches 17. 71 

Thickness of armor of turrets, in inches 17. 71 

Thickness of backing of wood at water-line, in inches 23. 62 

Thickness of backing of wood at upper redoubt, in inches 19. 68 

Thickness of vtood backing of turrets, in inches 11. 81 

Depth of immersion of armor, in feet and inches 5 3 

Total weight of armor, in tons 2. 5c9 

Total weight of wood backing, in tons 239 

Number of guns and their weights, #c. 

Duilio and Dandolr. 

Number of guns 4 

Weight of each gun, in tons 98. 5 

Weight of broadside metal, in tons 3. 87 

Weight of bow-fire metal, in tons 2. 9 

Weight of stern-fire metal, in tons 1. 93 

Total weight of guns, their machinery and ammuuition, in tons 984. 2 

Height of main deck above water, in feet and inches 11 6 

Height of battery, in feet and inches 15 9 

Estimated cost of each ship, in dollars (gold), exclusive of armament and 
outfit 2,818,800 

Motive machinery. 

Dnilio. Dandolo. 

Kind of engines Ordinary. Compound. 

Name of constructor Penn. Maudslay. 

Indicated horse-power, contract 7.500 7,900 

Number of cylinders 4 4 

Diameter of cylinders, in inches 93. 5 64 and 1 20 

Stroke of pistons, in inches 39 48 

Number of revolutions of engine per minute, estimated.. . 65 80 

Number of screw-propellers 2 2 

Diameter of screw-propellers, in feet and inches 17 3 36 

Pitch of screw-propellers, in feet and inches 19 6 19 

Speed of ships, in knots, estimated 14 14 

Number of boilers 10 8 

Number of furnaces 40 32 

Grate surface, in square feet 899. 6 811. 6 

Heating surface, in square feet 23,775 22, 991 

Boiler-pressure, in pounds 30 60 

Number of smoke-pipes 2 2 

Tons of coal to be carried in bunkers 1,279 1, 279 

The hull is built of iron and steel, on the cellular system. The double 
bottom extends for upward of 230 feet iu length, and is divided both 
longitudinally and transversely into a great number of watei -tight com- 
partments. Each compartment is provided with a branch tube which 
is connected with one principal tube in communication with powerful 
steam-pumps. The tubes are, of course, fitted with the necessary valves, 
so that in the event of damage to the bottom of the vessel, or for any 



238 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAE, ETC. 

desirable purpose, any one or more of the compartments may be drained 
or filled with water. There is a central armored citadel or compartment 
107 feet in length and 58 feet in breadth, which descends to 5 feet 11 
inches below the load water-line. It protects the machinery and boilers, 
the magazines and shell-rooms, and a portion of the machinery for 
working the turrets and guns. Forward and aft of this citadel, the 
decks, which are 4 feet 9 inches under water, are defended by horizon- 
tal armor. Over this citadel is bnilt a second central armored compart- 
ment which incloses the bases of the turrets and the remaining portion 
of the mechanism employed in loading and working the guns. Lastly, 
above this second compartment rise the two turrets. The position of 
the turrets in the Duilio was made the subject of a novel arrangement, 
and one w T hich was tried for the first time in that vessel. They are 
placed at each end of the central armored citadel — not in an even line 
with each other, but diagonally at opposite corners of it, with the cen- 
ters at the distance of 7 feet 8 inches from the lougitudinal center-line 
of the vessel, so that one turret is on the starboard side and the other 
on the port side. The effect of this arrangement is to fender possible 
the discharge of three guns simultaneously in a direction parallel with 
the keel. Only the central portion of the ship and the two turrets will 
be protected by vertical armor. 

As regards the armor of the central portion of the vessel, the thick- 
ness of which at the water-line is to be 21.65 inches, it had not been de- 
cided, at the date of my visit, whether the plates should be made in one 
or two thicknesses; that was to depend on the results of comparative 
experiments made at Spezia by snots discharged by the 100-tou gun, 
and guns of 10 and 11 inch calibers, against targets constructed on four 
different systems of steel and iron from three manufacturers.* The decks 
are protected by horizontal armor of iron and steel, the former being 
under the latter. The armor of the turrets will be composed of solid 
plates 17.71 inches in thickness, resting upon teak backing. 

ARMAMENT. 

The original intention was that the armament should be composed of 
two 60-ton guns in each turret; subsequently it was decided to employ 
100-ton guus, and the opinion prevails that this decision was reached 
after the fact became known that the Inflexible would be armed with 
80-ton guns. These 100-ton guns, four for each ship, are being manu- 
factured by Sir William Armstrong, at the Elswick Works, Newcastle- 
on-Tyne, England; the first one of the number having just been com- 
pleted ready for shipment to Italy, to undergo the necessary experimental 
firing tests, at the time of my visit to Elswick. f 

The accompanying drawing illustrates the construction of the guu — 
the heaviest and most powerful piece of ordnance in the world. It is 
built up according to the well-known Armstrong system, the iuner bar- 
rel or tube being of steel, rifled with twenty-seven grooves, the spaces 
between which are nearly equal to the width of the grooves themselves. 

*The results of the experiments at Spezia iuduced the Italiau Government to adopt 
steel for armor in preference to iron. They were led to this determination for the 
reason that the projectiles fired from the 100-ton gun failed co pass through a target 
faced with 22 inches of that metal, while similar projectiles from the same gun perfora- 
ted targets composed of iron plates of the same thickuess. They are at the present time 
engaged in plating the Duilio and Dandolo with armor of this material. 

t According to the latest accounts, two of these guns have been delivered at Spezia 
for the Duilio, and four have been purchased by the British government at the reported 
price of $80,009 for each. 



F 



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THE 100-TON GNN. 239 

The rifling has an increasing pitch, commencing at the chamber with 1 in 
150 calibers, and increased to 1 in 50 calibers. The depth of the grooves 
is J- inch throughout. The steel barrel is 31 feet 3 inches long, 6 inches 
thick at the powder-chamber, diminishing to 3£ inches at the muzzle. 
It is bound by successive layers of wrought-iron coiled cylinders. There 
are ten of these coils, and they are so arranged as to interlock with and 
overlap each other at their junctions; six of them are on the rear half 
of the gun, the remaining four being placed singly end to end around 
the tube. The first coil at the rear is 13 feet long by 7 inches thick ; 
over this is a coil 8 inches thick and 9 feet 6 inches in length; then the 
trunnion-coil, which is 11 inches thick and 2 feet long; forward of this 
is a tapered coil, having an average thickness of 6J inches and a length 
of 3 feet 3 inches. Outside of the second long coil is another to the 
rear, 9 inches thick and 5 feet 6 inches long. Thus the breech portion 
is bound by three coils, the trunnion portion by two, and the forward 
portion by one. The trunnions, it may be observed, are not placed on 
the largest diameter of the gun, but farther forward, where the diame- 
ter is considerably reduced. There is consequently a preponderance of 
weight at the breech end of about 4 tons, which gives stability in work- 
ing, inasmuch as the weight is always tending in one direction. The 
exact weight of the gun is 101J tons, its extreme length is 32 feet 10J 
inches, the length of the bore is 30 feet 6 inches, and its diameter is 17 
inches. The outside diameter of the gun at the muzzle is 29 inches, 
and at the breech it is 77 inches. 

The weight of the projectile is 2,000 pounds, and that of the proof- 
shot 2,500 pounds. Rotation is given to the projectile, not by the usual 
studs fixed in the projectiles to fit the grooves, but by a copper gas- 
check fixed into the rear end of the shell, and which has projections 
upon it corresponding with the rifling-grooves of the gun ; the shell is 
so formed that the check on being crushed against it by the pressure of 
the explosion of the charge presses firmly about it ; and the gas-check 
being caused to rotate by the rifling-grooves, causes the projectile to 
turn and to take the same rotation. The cartridge measures 52 inches 
in length by 15J inches in diameter. 

TRIALS OF THE GUN. 

The trials decided upon were to settle two poiuts : The one being the 
test of the gun and machinery for working it under the stipulations of 
the contract, and the other was the determination of the system of ver- 
tical armor to be used on the ships in which the guns are to be mounted. 
With these objects in view the gun was placed on a pontoon constructed 
for the purpose, and moored in a firing position in the Gulf of Spezia. 
It was mounted on its trunnion-blocks, left free to move on the slides, 
and all the hydraulic apparatus for loading, for regulating the elevation, 
for running out, and for taking the recoil, was fitted as it will be used 
when in its place on board ship. As descriptions of similar apparatus 
for working the guns of the Inflexible and Thunderer have already been 
given in this report, it is only necessary to record here the results of 
the trials, which, with the drawings of the targets shown herewith, 
have been taken from that excellent paper, the Engineer. 

If correctly reported, the contract provides that the gun shall dis- 
charge 2,000 pound shots with a muzzle velocity of 1,350 feet; that 50 
rounds of seivice charges shall be fired, and 5 of them with projectiles 
weighing each 2,500 pounds. The experimental firiug was commeuced 



240 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



October 20, 1876. The series of rounds fired by the 100-ton gun is given 
by The Engineer of December 29 of that year, in the following table : 



a 

53 

2 

o 

a 


Date. 


Charge, weight and 
nature, in pounds. 


if 

© w 

'£■% 

ft 


© 

Pi 

©• 

ID'S 

*a © 

•3 « 
O 


a 
© . 

- m 

S a 

© 

© 


u 



5 



r 


© 

CO 

H 
l g 
!■& 

© 


to 
© 

© 

a 
a 

'0 


Kemarks. 


1 


Oct. 20 
Oct. 21 
Oct. 21 
Oct. 23 
Oct. 23 
Oct. 23 
Oct. 23 
Oct. 23 
Oct. 25 
Oct. 25 
Oct. 26 
Oct. 26 
Oct. 27 
Oct. 27 
Oct. 27 
Oct. 28 
Oct. 28 
Nov. 2 
Nov. 2 
Nov. 2 
Nov. 2 
Nov. 3 
Nov. 3 
Nov. 3 
Nov. 3 
Nov. 3 
Nov. 4 
Nov. 4 
Nov. 4 


200 ¥A. 1 J inch.. 
300 WA. lj inch.. 
300 "WA. 14 inch.. 
300 "WA. 14 inch.. 
300 WA. 14 inch.. 
300 WA. 14 inch.. 
330 WA. 14 inch.. 
319 WA. 14 inch.. 
319 WA. 14 inch.. 
336.6 WA. 14 inch.. 
319 WA. 14 inch.. 
341 WA. 14 inch.. 
341 WA. 14 inch.. 
341.6 WA. 14 inch.. 
341.6 WA. Hinch.. 
341.6 WA. 14 inch.. 
341.6 WA. 14 inch.. 


2,000 
2,000 
2, 000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2, 000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 


(*) 
(*) 

1, 375 






1,050 






2 


16.6 
15.9 






3 
4 




1,150 






5 
6 

7 


1,374 " 

1,456 

1,424 

1,437" 
1,475 

1,478 


16.0 
16.0 
20.8 
18.0 
(*) 
19.4 

19.' 75 
19.75 


29*46o 
28, 120 





35.5 

37.5 




8 
9 




42.5 

44.75 

46.3 

42.6 

47.1 

46.0 




10 
11 
12 
13 
14 


28,' 625 
30, 150 
30, 300 


:;:::. 


At earth. 

At Schneider steel plate. 

At Cammell's iron plate. 

Shot broken up in bore. 

At Marrel's iron plates. 

At Schneider steel. 

At Marrel's sandwich t'rg't. 

Fired against earth. 


15 


1,500 
1,493 
1,492 


20.6 
20.1 
19.2 


31, 200 
30, 920 
30, 880 






16 
17 


2,180 


48.2: 
46.0 


18 


319 WA. 14 inch.. 
319 WA. 14 inch.. 
319 WA. 14 Inch.. 
319 WA. 14 inch.. 
319 WA. 14 inch.. 
319 WA. 14 inch.. 
276 Fossano...... 

300 Fossano 

319 WA. 14 inch.. 
319 WA. 14 inch.. 
319 WA.Hinch.. 
319 WA. 14 inch.. 


2,000 
2,500 
2,500 
2,500 
2,500 
2, 500 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
2,000 
8,000 
2,000 


19 
20 
21 
99 


1,294 
1,293 
1,293 


19.0 
19.0 

18.8 


29, 027 
29, 000 
29, 000 


2,"666 


44.75 

44.5 

44.25 

42.5 

40.5 

23.5 

17.0 


23 
94 


1,165" 
863 


18.6 





i,'850 




95 


(t) 






96 






97 








36.0 




98 










99 






I 


35.25 




30 










31 
















3? 
















33 
34 

35 


Nov. 7 
Nov. 7 
Nov. 7 
Nov. 8 
Nov. 8 
Nov. 8 
Nov. 8 


353 WA. 14 inch.. 
364 WA. 14 inch.. 
375 WA.Hinch.. 
319 WA. 14 inch.. 

341 Fossano 

363 Fossano 

363 Fossano 


1, 512 

1,514 

1, 542. 8 

1,348 

1,415 

1,408 

1,444 


'l9.' 8" 
21.4 

13*" 


31, 700 
31, 750 
33, 000 
25, 200 
27, 760 

27, 500 

28, 900 




42.5 
42.8 


At earth. 


36 








37 








3R 








39 

















Not observed. 



t Under 10. 



The four targets, represented in plates 1, 2, and 3, were faced with 
three several kinds of plates, viz, wrought-iron plates by Carnmell & 
Co., of Sheffield, steel plates by Messrs. Schneider & Cie., of Creuzot, 
and wrought-iron plates by M. Marrel, another French maker. The 
plates were each 11 feet 6 inches long by 4 feet 7 inches deep, and 22 
inches thick, mounted on framing representing that of the Duilio and_D«m- 
dolo. Keterring to tbe illustrations, the second series shows each target 
after receiving one blow from a 10-inch projectile. The third series 
shows each after receiving, in addition to the single round above men- 
tioned, a salvo consisting of one 10-inch and one 11 inch shot. The 
fourth series deals with the effect produced by the 100-ton gun, either on 
uninjured or injured targets. The nature of the target and the rounds 
hitherto tired at it are entered beneath each section. 

The targets were built facing the sea. Opposite them was a battery consisting of 
one 11-inch gun, with two 10-inch guns, one on either side of the 11-inch. Farther to 
the rear, that is, farther to sea, was the raft on which the 100-ton gun was placed. As 
this gun is mounted for working in a turret, it has no provision for lateral adjustment 
or training ; the raft, therefore, acted as a turret, the gun was " lined" as to direction 
by moving the ra't, and the latter could be readily Turned right round so as to enable 
the gun to lire for range out to sea. This was the part of the programme that was tirst 



100-Ton Gun Targets 



Plate 1. 




CammellV f Upper Target 
MakrelJ [Lower Do. 

Each Target struck, once by 

10 IN. SHOT. 



Schneider Steeil. 

Upper Target struck once by 

iO IN. SHOT. 





5VTIRE, 

1*10 IN. 

Guns. 

Penetration 

13 4 18 in. 
respectively, 
whole plate driven 
bac k i inch. 



6V> Fire 
II 3 IOin.Guns, 

LARGE MASS 
DISLODGE 




CammellI 
MarrelJ 



f Upper Tar«et, 

,R0N i . 

^Lo<ner Oo. 

Each Target after beinc struck b> 

I ROUND, IOIN.SHOT. 



Schneider Steel. 

UpperTarcet after beino struokby 
i round, 10 in. shot. 



100-Ton €un Targets 



Plate 2. 




I2 1 * Round, 
10 in. Gun . 
Penetration 
10 IN. 




Marrel Iron. 
Struck once Br IOin. shot. 



Cammell Iron , 
Struck once by IOin. shot. 





13^ Round 
IUIOin. 
Guns. 

5 large pieces 

dislodge d- 



Penetration 
4 "into rear plate 




Marrel Iron 



Cammell Iron. 



THE 100-TON GUN. 24 1 

carried out, the rounds from No. 1 to No. 10 being fired to test the performance of the 
gun as to the velocity it imparted to the shot and the pressure in the bore of the gun, 
and as to its strength and general behavior on firiug, and also to test the action of the 
carriage. The most important matter in this firing is the velocity that can be obtained 
with such a pressure as may be deemed allowable for the gun. The highest pressure 
recorded is 20.8 tons per square inch, and this appears to be rather exceptionally high 
and irregular. The velocity corresponding to it was 1,456 feet per second. The highest 
pressure occurring in the 80-ton gun, during the first ten rounds with the full 16-inch 
bore, was 22 tons, the corresponding velocity being 1,452 feet. This, it is fair to say,, 
was also rather unduly high, being the highest registered at any time with this caliber. 

The Italian arrangements as to taking velocities, &c, were not in good working 
[order] at first ; but every portion of the Elswick gear performed its part well, the re- 
coil being checked and the gun working easily. 

The plate experiments began on October 25. The construction of the targets is shown 
in No. 1 series of sections and in Fig. 1.* 

No. 1 target consists of wrought-iron plates * * 22 inches thick, on teak backing, 
with angle-iron and li-inch skin. The plate on the upper half of the target is supplied 
by Messrs. CammelL, that on the lower by Messrs. Marrel. 

No. 2 is a similar target, except that 22-inch steel plates supplied by M. Schneider 
take the place of the wrought-iron plates both in the upper aud lower portions of the 
target. 

Nos. 3 and 4 are targets with what has been termed sandwich-plating in the upper 
halves, that is to say, alternate layers of iron and teak, the front plate in each case 
being 12 inches thick and the inner plate 10 inches, as shown in Nos. 3 and 4, the only 
difference between the two being that, in No. 3, Marrel, and in No. 4, Cammell plates, 
were employed. The lower portions of the two targets had wrought-iron front plates 
8 inches thick, No. 3 having a layer of teak next and then chilled cast iron 14 inches 
thick, and No. 4 having a similar thickness of chilled iron next to the front plates, the 
teak being all behind. The bolts of all the targets pass through the entire structure 
except in the case of the Schneider steel plates, into which the bolts were screwed to a 
depth of not quite half the thickness of the plate. The total thickness of wood in every 
target was the same, namely, 29 inches ; and the iron, exclusive of skin, was 22 inches, 
the skin being H inches. The sections are given on the plan of the Italian Government 
sketch. 

The object of the programme was as follows : The effect of the lighter guns to be first 
ascertained ; a single round from ihe 10-inch gun being first fired at each, and then a 
salvo of the 10-inch and 11-inch guns. The whole three guns were intended to be fired 
simultaneously, but one 10-inch missing the tirst round, two only were fired in the sub- 
sequent salvos. One steel Schneider half-target was to be reserved untouched for the 
100-ton gun ; the remainder were to be brought under its tire after the lighter guns had 
done their worst on them. It was considered that the targets ought to be more than a 
match for 10-inch and 11-iuch guns, and consequently that, after being struck, a very 
fairly strong target of each kind would thus be fired at by the 100-ton gun. The firing 
was as follows : 

No. 1 round : 10-inch shot against No. 2 upper half, Schneider steel 22-inch plate. 
Shot penetrated about 10 inches near the center of the plate — vide target No. 2, No. 2 
series of sections — the plate at the edges of the hole being burred up about 4.4 inches. 
At first the plate appeared to be but little damaged, but a singing noise was heard iu 
the metal, which shortly after split in two cracks, one running i'roin the hole to the 
proper right edge of the target, and the other in a downward direction, extending some 
distance, but not to the plate edge. 

No. 2 round : 10-iuch gun against upper half of No. 1 target, Cammell wrought-iron 
22-inch plate: penetration about 10.8 inches in depth. Two cracks were developed, 
extending from a left bolt-hole to target edge. 

No. 3 round : 10-inch gun at lower half of No. 2 target, Marrel, 22-inch, front plate. 
Penetration about equal to that in Cammell plate; crack opened from lower left bolt- 
hole. 

No, 4 fire : Salvo from 11-inch and both 10-inch guns at Schneider upper target No. 2. 
One 10-inch gun missed fire, so that one 11-inch and one 10-inch shot were actually 
fired at the plates. Both struck from 2 feet to 3 feet of right of target — vide third se- 
ries of sections. A large piece of plate was dislodged from the ri^ht-hand top cor- 
ner. The cracks already made were opened much wider, aud fresh cracks were visible, 
especially in the shot-hole. The entire plate, in tact, had suffered very severely, and 
was far on the way to destruction. The 100-ton gun was then tired two rounds, Nos. 
1) and 10 on table, which we keep distinct from the plate-firing. 

On October 20 — No. 5 tire at plates : A salvo of one 10-inch and one 11-inch shot was 
fired at Cammell's 22-inch iron plate — Target on third series ; the plate was struck rather 
near to the edge. The 11-inch shot Lodged and broke up ; the 10-inch drove one bolt 
some distance inward. The top layer of that was lifted above the target edge. The 

*The eugravings of the first series are omitted as being unnecessary. 
16 K 



242 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

entire plate was driven back 1 inch, and a crack was made from a bolt-hole to the edge 
of the plate. 

No. 6 fire at plates : Salvo of one 10-inch and one 11-inch shot at Marrel iron 22-inch 
plate, No. 1 target, lower portion, third series. A huge mass of iron was dislodged, 
and a crack was formed from bolt-hole to toward top edge of plate ; penetration not 
quite so much as in Cammell's plate. The iron of the plate was heard to sing. The 
general quality of it appeared decidedly more steely than that of Cammell's plate. The 
100-ton gun was now fired at an earth-butt 52 feet thick and 27 feet high, with results 
given in table, No. 11 round. 

No. 7 fire at plates : The 100-ton gun was next fired with 340-pound charge at the 
Schneider steel plate, which had hitherto been left untouched. The effects are shown 
generally in lower portion of No. 2 target, fourth series. The plate was smashed to 
pieces, but the shot had broken up, and had not penetrated through the backing. The 
whole target had been driven 8 inches back, the inner skin was bulged and opened, 
and the angle-iron torn and twisted. For units of work and pressure, &c, see table, 
No. 12, 

On the 27th — No. 8 fire at plates: The 100-ton guu was fired at the Cammell iron 
plate, with results indicated generally in the upper half No. 1 section of No. 4 series. 
For charges, see No. 13 in table. Half the plate was struck away, leaving the wood 
bare. A part of the shot passed completely through the target, having a velocity 
measured at 600 feet on the far side. A hole was made nearly 4 feet in diameter, show- 
ing debris of broken iron and wood in interior. The following round was fired at the 
steel target, but the shot broke up in the bore of the gun. 

No. 9 effective fire at plates : The 100-ton gun was next fired at Marrel's target, on 
the lower half of the same structure as Cammell's. (See No. 1, series 4.) The whole 
knocked into ruins. The shot passed completely through, leaving a large hole in the 
center, as in the case of Cammell's, showing the same heap of debris. For charge, 
velocity, &c, see No. 15 on table. Plate No. 2 shows the state of the targets at this 
stage of the proceedings. 

No. 10 effective fire at plates was from the 100-ton gun at the upper half of Schnei- 
der's steel target. For effects, see No. 2 in No. 4 series. Although this plate had suf- 
fered severely from thefireof the smaller guns, complete penetration was not obtained. 
The plate was shivered into fragments. The head of the projectile remained buried in 
the backing. A considerable part of the body of the shot had been projected outward 
and bent forward without entirely separating from the head (vide figure), a most unusual 
circumstance with chilled shot. 

On October 28— effective fire No. 11 at plate: 10-inch gun at Cammell's sandwich 
target. Effects, see No. 4 and No. 2 series. Shot-head penetrated 13 inches, the metal 
remaining in the hole. One bolt started in the rear. 

No. 12: 10-inch gun at Marrel's sandwich target. Effects, see No. 3, second series. 
Shot penetrated 10 inches only, but the plate was split in several directions, some 
pieces being nearly detached. Cracks through upper bolt-holes. 

No. 13: Salvo of one 10-inch and one 11-inch gun at Marrel's sandwich target. Ef- 
fects, wide fissures opened in plate 5 ; large pieces of plate and some small ones dis- 
lodged altogether and thrown on the ground. 

No. 14 : Salvo of one 10-inch and one 11-iuch at Cammell's. Both shots pierced front 
plate, and penetrated 2.4 inches into rear plate ; right-hand corner of plate dislodged; 
backing moved ; one bolt sheared and broken, and one bolt-head forced into interior. 
(See section 3 in No. 4 series.) 

No. 15 : The 100-ton gun at Marrel's sandwich plates as injured above. Effects, the 
main part of the target carried away, and complete peuetration obtained. (See 3 in 
No. 4 series.) 

The remainder of the rounds detailed in the table were then fired from the 100-ton 
guu. 

In reviewing the plate-firing, the principal features to notice are the followiug: 

Series Nos. 2 and 3 show that steel is more liable to be destroyed by the fire of guns 
not capable of penetrating it than wrought iron,* which under these circumstances 
suffers but little. 

Series No. 4 shows that steel, by transmitting the blow of impact through the plate, is 
less liable to let the shot through the backing, while more liable to be stripped off and 
destroyed itself. 

It also appears obvious that the DuiUo''s power of offense will be greatly in excess of 
her powers of defense. 

Engineering says that in comparing the results of the thirty-fifth round 
with those afforded by the 81-ton gun, firing 370 pounds of the same 
powder and a 1, 700-pound projectile, it will be seen that there is a pre- 
ponderance, of energy greatly in favor of the 100-ton gun. The 81-ton 

* The steel used was evidently not the best adapted to the purpose. — J. W. K. 



100-Ton Gun Targets. 



a. 

Effect of 
1 Round, IGin. Gun^ 
1 Salvo, 10fUl<-iN. Guns 8j 
1 Round, 100-Ton Gun. 
Half of Plate dislodged 
Beams, Knees «(c. broken. 




Plate 3. 



B. 

Effect of 
1 Round, IOin. Gun, 
1 Salvo , 10 $11 in. Guns % 
1 Round, 100-Ton Gun. 
Plate knocked into 
Fragments . 



Camm 
Marr 



ell) ( Upper Target. 

> JRON I 

:el J t Lower Do. 



Effect of 
1 Round, IOin. Gun, 
1 Salvo, 10 «f JIin. Guns * 
1 Round, 100-Ton Gun . 
Plate completely 
destroy e d . 




Effect of 
1 Round, 100-Ton Gun. 
Plate smashed to pieces, 
shot broken up and 
the entire Target 
driven 8 in. back.. 



Schneider Steel. 




Effect of 
1 Round, IOin. Gun , 
1 Salvo, 10 $11 in. Guns ^ 
1 Round, 100-Ton Gun. 
The whole front plate 
destroy ed . 



Marrel Iron 



TIIE 101-TON GUN. 243 

gun gave a velocity of 1,520 feet to its 1,700- pound shot, with an energy 
of 27,200 foot-tons, or 540 foot-tons per inch of circumference of the shot. 
The 100-ton gun gave a velocity of 1,543 feet to a 2,000-pound shot, with 
an energy of 33,000 foot-tons, or 623 foot-tons per inch of circumference. 

This first of the 100-ton guns was in some degree experimental, and 
important facts have been demonstrated by its use. After the conclu- 
sion of the experiments it was reshipped to England for the purpose of 
being chambered and having its bore enlarged. The other 100-ton guns 
completed at Elswick and shipped to Italy for the Duilio are considered 
capable of producing much better results than those exhibited by the 
first of these monster weapons, some important modifications having 
been introduced in these latter experiments. Instead of the uniform bore 
of 17 inches which characterized the first piece, these guns have a cali- 
ber of 17 j inches and a powder- chamber of 19| inches. 

The Italian authorities will probably fire the new guns with a charge 
of 470 pounds of powder behind a projectile of 2,500 pounds. 

These artillery experiments conducted at Spezia by the Italian gov- 
ernment are by far the most important ever undertaken. Not only has 
the greatest gun ever made been tested for velocity and penetration, but 
armor-plates of different kinds and of almost unparalleled magnitude 
have been tried for resistance and durability. The interest felt in the 
experiments by all naval authorities is not due alone to the performance 
of a single gun, but to the undisputed fact that the Spezia trials must 
exercise a powerful influence on the warfare of the future. Guns, ships, 
and armor will all undergo modifications. 

The Duilio is to be armed with a heavy projecting ram, and she is 
also to be provided with apparatus for discharging the Whitehead fish- 
torpedoes. Besides these powerful means of offense, there is to be novel 
and original arrangement of carrying a rapid torpedo-boat; this boat 
is to be inclosed at the stern in a tunnel secured by a grated door, and 
when necessary can be launched and started on its course against an 
enemy's vessel. 

The ship is to be driven by twin screws. The motive machinery is 
furnished by Messrs. John Penn & Sons, of Greeuwich, England, and 
consists of his old type, a pair of trunk-engines to each screw. The 
steam will be supplied by the ordinary box-boilers. The two sets of 
engines are designed to develop the aggregate power of 7,500 horses, 
and the estimated speed of the vessel on the measured mile is 14 knots 
per hour. The heavy forgings for the ship were made in Italy. The 
frames, beams, and plates for the hull, iu fact all the iron and steel enter- 
ing into the construction of the vessel, were being made in France. All 
the armor-plates were ordered from Cammell & Co., of Sheffield, Eng- 
land, and the guns and machinery for working them were also to be 
of English manufacture, thus leaving only the construction and labor 
entering therein to be performed by the Italian engineers. The Duilio 
will be armed with four of the heaviest and most powerful guns ever 
mounted on any ship, and if completed and successful in all respects, 
she will be the most formidable fighting-machine, both for offense and 
defense, ever set afloat in the waters of continental Europe. When 
launched, the draught of water was found to be just what the designer 
estimated it would be, and it remains to be seen whether the prediction 
of the eminent ex-chief constructor of the British navy will be fulfilled, 
viz, that she will capsize in the first engagement, if seriously injured by 
shot in the unprotected parts.* 

*For the drawings of the Dandolo, Tegethoff, Shannon, and Nelson, I am indebted to 
M. P. Dislere, of the department of the minister of marine, Paris. 



244 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

THE DAKDOLO. 

This sister ship to the Duilio is under construction at Spezia, but is 
very far from being in the advanced condition of that vessel, and will not 
probably be completed until the end of 1879, as the financial resources 
of the Italian admiralty will doubtless be taxed to the utmost during 
the coming year to complete the first of the great ships. The Dandolo 
is to be in essential features of construction the same as her sister, but 
an important distinction is in the motive machinery. This has been de- 
signed and furnished by Messrs. Maudslay, Field & Son, of Loudon, and 
consists of a pair of their inverted vertical compound engines to each of 
the two screw-propellers. The engines are to be supplied with steam 
from eight boilers fired from both ends, having in all thirty two furnaces, 
four of the boilers being located forward and four aft of the engines. 

The pressure of steam is to be sixty pounds per square inch, and the 
maximum indicated horse-power the same as is intended to be developed 
in the Duilio. 

THE ITALIA. 

The Italia, the construction of which was commenced last year at 
Castellamare, will, when completed, be a stupendous floating battery ; 
indeed, the largest and most powerful ship of war ever floated in the 
world. The principal dimensions are approximately as follows : Length, 
400 feet 3 inches; beam, extreme, 73 feet 10 inches; draught of water, 
forward, 25 feet 4 inches; aft, 30 feet 4 inches; height of upper deck 
above keel, 49 feet 3 inches ; displacement, 13,480 tons ; weight of un- 
armored hull, 5,000 tons ; area of midship section , 1,848 square feet. 
The double bottom of the ship is 254 feet 3 inches long, 59 feet wide, 
and 3 feet 3 inches deep, and is divided into a large number of water- 
tight cells. Two longitudinal bulkheads extend from stem to stern, and 
the ship is divided by means of these and transverse bulkheads into fifty- 
three water-tight compartments, forty of the latter being above the 
double bottom of the vessel, three in the rear, and ten forward of it. 
These compartments are again divided horizontally by four water-tight 
decks; of these, the lowest, which is to be armored with iron 3 inches thick, 
is about 8 feet 2 inches below the water-line ; the second, 5 feet above 
the line of flotation ; the battery-deck, 14 feet 9 inches, and the upper 
deck 21 feet 4 inches, above the water-line. On the upper deck stands an 
armored redoubt, of oval form, its longer axis being at an angle of about 
20° to the keel, and within it will be the turrets containing the guns. 
The armor will be mainly disposed in the form of a girdle around the 
ship, extending from the deck below to the first deck above the water- 
line. From this latter deck to the upper one the sides of the ship will 
be consequently unprotected ; but the lower smoke-pipes, and also the 
tubes up which the ammunition is passel from the magazine to the re- 
doubt, will be armored. The ship will be driven by twin screws, each 
19 feet 6^ inches in diameter, worked by four engiues capable of develop- 
ing 18,000 horse-power and propelling the vessel through the water at 
the estimated speed of 16 knots per hour. It is reported that the guns 
are to be of the Armstrong manufacture, and each is to weigh 100 tons; 
whether a greater number is to be carried than on the Duilio is, perhaps, 
not yet fully settled. 

The Icpanto, a sister ship, is to be built at Leghorn. 

There is a positive limit to the dimensions of every construction, a 
point beyond which it is not wise or safe to go. This point was over- 



THE ITALIAN NAVY, 245 

reached in the case of the mercantile ship Great Eastern, the cost of 
which to the owners was very great. 

It is reasonable to believe that the Italian naval authorities have gone 
beyond the judicious limit in the designs of their new ships. The great 
cost of the guns and the machinery to work them, the still greater cost 
of the ship, and the expense of maintaining the stupendous and unwieldy 
bulk, will probably not be the most serious difficulties. The practical 
question of the effects of firing such ponderous weapons, upon the ship 
on which they are mounted and upon persons working the guns, is yet 
to be determined. The Italians seem to have accepted in this respect 
the results of the firing of the 100-ton gun, mounted on a pontoon in the 
Gulf of Spezia, in which, as reported, the recoil of the gun, cushioned 
against air and water, was easy, and the jar or concussion not severe, 
the oakum in the decks of the pontoon in front of the gun not even being 
started. It is, however, well known that heavy guns work with more 
ease wben mounted afloat on small vessels than they do on shore, due 
to the fact that the vessel acts as a secondary slide, taking up much of 
the recoil by the yielding resistance of the water in which it floats. This 
experiment is, therefore, inconclusive. Nothing heavier than the 38-ton 
gun has up to this time been fired from the decks of a ship. What effect 
the simultaneous firing of the whole of the four guns, of 100 tons each, 
will have upon the Duilio y or the men employed at the guns, or, if that 
be regarded as not likely to occur in warfare, the firing alternately of 
the guns in pairs, has yet to be demonstrated. Until it is known what 
will be the effect of this firing upon the deck-plating and upon whatever 
is near the guns, to say nothing of other questions, it would seem un- 
wise to proceed with the construction of ships of still greater dimensions 
and of guns still more stupendous. 

THE CKISTOFOKO COLOMBO. 

This is a wooden corvette, and the first vessel of the rapid type turned 
out by the Italian Government. She was built at Veuice. The beams 
and knees are of iron, while the hull is composed of seasoned Italian oak $ 
it is put together in the very best and strongest manner in which a 
wooden vessel can be built. The exact data were not obtainable, but 
the dimensions, &c, are very nearly as follows: 

Length, total 270 feet. 

Length on the water-line 250 feet. . 

Breadth 36 feet. 

Draught of water, aft 17 feet. 

Draught of water, forward 13 feet. 

Area of midship section 476 square feet. 

Displacement 2, 500 tons. 

On the berth or living deck there are twenty-three air-ports on each 
side, 17 inches by 18 inches, which afford more light and air than are 
admitted into our vessels of similar class. The quarters for both officers 
and men are comfortable, and the disposition of the lower-deck arrange- 
ments good, but the upper decks seem to be very much hampered by 
cabins, engine-room sky-light, steering-wheel house, two smoke-pipes, 
topgallant forecastle, &c, but as the battery is light, and the rig that 
of a barkeutine, less room is needed than in many other vessels. The 
battery consists of two rifled guns on either broadside, and one bow- 
chaser of 4f -inch bore. There are also two mitrailleuses to be used in 
the event of torpedo attack. 

MOTIVE MACHINERY. 

This was furnished by Messrs. John Penn & Sons, of Greenwich, 
England. It consists of one pair of their patent inverted vertical three- 



246 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

cylinder engines applied to a single screw-shaft, with the cylinder so 
arranged and adjusted by a system of valves as to be worked either on 
the compound or non-compound principle, as desired. The cylinders 
are of equal diameters. 

Number of cylinders 3 

Diameter of cylinders 61 f inches. 

Stroke of pistons .. 37^ inches. 

Number of air-pumps 2 

Number of independent circulating pumps 2 

Cooling surface 5, 000 square feet. 

Screw-propeller, diameter 17 feet. 

Pitch of screw 19 feet 6 inches. 

Number of blades to screw 4 

Number of boilers (cylindrical) 8 

Diameter of boilers 12 feet. 

Length of boilers 9 feet. 

Number of furnaces in each boiler 3 

Grate surface 396 square feet 

Heating surface 9, 000 square feet 

The amount of coal stored is 500 tons, and the space occupied by the 
machinery, boilers, and coal is 127 feet in the length of vessel below 
the lower deck, besides the space between decks consequent upon the 
top of the cylinders standing nearly on a level with the spar deck. 

The engines were designed to develop the maximum indicated horse- 
power of 4,000, and the speed on the measured mile was estimated to 
be at the rate of 17 knots per hour. I am not aware whether this speed 
was ever attained, but it has been authoritatively reported that with S6 
revolutions the speed of 16.33 knots has been reached, the horse-power 
being 3,782. The cost of the vessel is reported to have been $514,620. 

It was believed by the naval constructors and engineers with whom 
I conferred in Venice, when the vessel was building, November, 1875, 
that the hull did not possess sufficient strength to sustain for any 
lengthened period, the power necessary to produce the speed for which 
the machinery was designed. 

The Italian naval authorities seem to have arrived at definite conclu- 
sions regarding their future fleets, and are acting vigorously upon them. 
They are not concentrating the whole of their attention upon armored 
ships, for, in addition to the Cristoforo Colombo, just described, five other 
vessels of the rapid type, intended for great speed, are in course of con- 
struction, and these later ships are being built with materials to sustain 
great engine-power, two of them being of steel and three of iron ; besides 
which one torpedo-vessel has been completed, and two others, the ISebas- 
tiano Veniero and the Andrea Provana, are building. Steam-launches 
built in England, to use both the Whitehead and outrigger torpedo, are 
also being added to the fleets. 

The iron-ship yards of Italy are building ships and training workmen 
for the government, and the proportion of iron to wooden ships, now 
building, is greater than iu any other country, except England. 

In a year hence, if the Builio proves to be a complete success, Italy 
will possess the most powerful ships in continental Europe, and iu 1879 
the sister ship Dandolo is also to be completed, each having four 100- 
ton guns; and should the still larger ships, the Italia and Lepanto,tiim 
out as calculated upon by the designers, Italy will possess a fleet of light- 
ing ships more than a match for any continental power. These, in addi- 
tion to her cruisers of the rapid type, will cause her co-operation to be 
valued and her enmity to be feared even by England, France, or Russia, 
and certainly by any other European power. 



THE ITALIAN NAVY. 247 

DOCK-YARDS. 

The naval dockyards of the kingdom of Italy are at Venice, on the 
Adriatic ; Castellamare, on the Bay of Naples, and Spezia, between Leg- 
horn and Genoa, on the Mediterranean. 

VENICE. 

The dock yard at Venice was in former times, as at present, known 
as the arsenal. There is no spot in Venice more intimately connected 
with the period of her powerful grandeur. It was considered one of the 
most important elements of the power of the republic. Here were con- 
structed the galleys so celebrated for their strength and lightness. 
Not only were all the stores required in war preserved here, but every- 
thing warlike was manufactured within its walls. Before the principal 
gate, as if to guard it, stand four marble lions, spoils taken from con- 
quered nations. The ancient walls still remain ; also many of the former 
buildings 5 but they have been internally reconstructed, to suit the many 
varied and wonderful changes in naval architecture since the days of 
the Doges. The estimated area within the walls is about one hundred 
acres. The basin area is very considerable, and one superior stone dry- 
dock is completed and a second is under construction. The appliances 
and machinery are as yet rather primitive. The few tools and machin- 
ery of value in the buildings of the engineering department are of English 
manufacture. In fact, none of the buildings contain appliances worth 
noting. 

CASTELLAMARE 

is an old ordinary ship-building yard, furnished with improvised sheds, 
containing the necessary machinery, tools, and appliances for iron-ship 
building, all purchased in order to be used in the construction of the 
Duilio. 

SPEZIA. 

The dock-yard at Spezia, on the gulf of this name, is, in common 
with other Italian navy-yards, known as the arsenal. It has been laid 
out on a scale of great magnitude, and is intended as the principal 
naval port. Already about $10,000,000 have been expended on the 
works, and it may now be ranked among the most important of the 
naval establishments of Europe. The drawing of it which accompanied 
the first edition of this report, but which has been omitted here, shows 
the plan as originally designed. It is intended that there should be 
nine building-slips and ten dry docks; but only two of the slips and four 
of the docks have been completed. The large basin for construction 
and repairs was designed to be 443 feet long and 80 feet wide at the 
top, and 5G feet 8 inches at the invert. This basin has only been com- 
pleted for half of its length. The adjoining fitting-out basin is 3G0 feet 
9 inches long and 72 feet inches and do feet 9 inches wide. In addition 
to this completed basin there are two smaller ones. The basins and 
docks are emptied by means of two turbines driven by two 150 horse- 
power engines. A small pump is also kept constantly at work to re- 
move infiltrating water. The buildings completed are of one story, ex- 
cepting the one containing the offices and mold-lofts. These buildings 
are as follows: machine, boiler, and smith shops, foundery, forges, steam- 
hammer buildings, temporary iron-ship-building shop and framing-shop, 
gun-carriage shops, artillery shops, store-houses, sail stores, torpedo- 
stores, and special stores. The machinery and tools, and system of 
cranes and appliances, are as yet incomplete. 

The following table contains the principal dimensions and other data 
of the Italian armored fleet now afloat and in process of building: 



248 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



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:f.a_:r,t xvi. 



THE RUSSIAN NAVY. 



CIRCULAR ARMORED SHIPS; PERSONNEL OF THE RUSSIAN 

NAVY; DOCK-YARDS; TABLE OF DIMENSIONS, ETC., 

OF ARMORED SHIPS OF RUSSIA. 



249 



THE RUSSIAN NAVY. 



The Russian navy is now composed of twenty-nine armored ships and 
one hundred and ninety-six other vessels of all classes, carrying altogether 
521 guDS. It is divided into two portions, one stationed in the Baltic, 
and the other in the Black Sea. The former is by far the more formi- 
dable, consisting of twenty-seven ships of various descriptions, 911 offi- 
cers and about 7,000 enlisted men. During severe winters this fleet is 
securely locked up in harbor, and the majority of the crews are snugly 
ensconced in barracks, where they are compelled to remain till the ice 
breaks up. From the official returns received at the beginning of the 
present war, the Black Sea squadron consisted of nine vessels with 320 
officers and about 3,000 enlisted men. In addition to these, Russia has 
naval vessels in the Caspian Sea, and the Vistula, and the White Sea, 
also a flotilla in the Sea of Aral, comprising about fifty craft of all classes, 
with about 250 officers and 3,000 enlisted men. 

Except for coast defense, the Russian fleet is numerous rather than 
powerful. The Pete}' the Great (Petrr Yeliky) and the Knaz Minin are the 
only two vessels on the list of seagoing armored ships which approach 
the modern standard of fighting efficiency. The first named was de- 
signed after the British ship Devastation, and commenced before the sea 
trials of that vessel ; subsequently modifications were made, and, as 
completed in 1875, she somewhat resembles the Dreadnought; though, 
as may be seen by consulting the list of armored ships, the dimensions 
are nearly the same as those of the Devastation, and the displacement 
316 tons more. The indicated horse-power, armor, and battery are equal 
to those of the Devastation. The armor is 14 inches in thickness, with 
hollow irou stringers in the backing besides, which are alleged to give 
an additional resistance equivalent to 2 inches of iron. The four guns, 
two iii each of the turrets, are of 12-inch caliber, and the weight of each 
is 40 tons. In respect, therefore, to armor and guns she is the match of 
any ship now in commission belonging to other nations. But she is not 
fitted with a spur to utilize the power of the ram. and the estimated 
speed has not been realized. 

The reports from correspondents represent the Peter the Great as not 
having turned out as successful as anticipated. It is reported that dur- 
ing the winter of 1870-77, when the ship was ice bound in the harbor of 
Cronstadt, and exposed to an atmospheric temperature of from 10° to 
40° below zero, Fahr., the crews w r ere kept employed in operating and 
firing the heavy guns, and that when the ice broke up, the ship being 
ordered out for a few days' cruise, the result of the firing became appar- 
ent. The hull was found leaking to a very considerable extent, some of 
the steam-cylinders were found to be cracked, and other damage done. 

A committee of naval experts was immediately convened, and the 
decision that they arrived at was, that the damage had been caused by 
the vibrations arising from the firiug during the time that the iron com- 
posing the hull and machinery was under the influence of very low 
atmospheric temperatures. 

The Knaz Minin was constructed as a rigged turret-ship on the Coles 

251 



252 

system, has a length of 298 feet 3 inches and breadth of 49 feet, with a 
displacement of 5,800 tons. The armament consisted of six guns of 12J 
tons each, and armor of 12-inch plates on 24-inch backing, and the free- 
board was very low. In consequence of the catastrophe to the British 
vessel Captain, alterations to the Knaz Minin were decided upon. As 
altered she will have a central battery 98 feet long, rising 10 feet above 
the water line. The guns are mounted in pairs on two turn-tables, on 
the main deck, and will fire en barbette over the top of the battery. In 
this shape she is expected to be a formidable ship. 

The next ships of the sea-going fleet to be noticed are the broadside 
belted vessels Duke of Edinburgh (Gertzog UdinbnrgsJcy), originally called 
the Alexander Nevsky, and the General Admiral. These ships are of 
recent construction, and were designed to compete with the fast British 
unarmored ships Raleigh and Boadicea. They are built of iron, sheathed 
with wood, and coppered. The length between perpendiculars is 285 
feet 9 inches; breadth 48 feet 2 inches; draught, mean, 21 feet; dis- 
placement, 4,438 tons. In weight and dimensions they are therefore 
intermediate between the two British ships just named. These vessels 
embody the original conception of the armor-belt on the water-line to 
protect the vital parts ; it is 6 inches thick and 7 feet wide. The bat- 
tery-deck is similar to that of the British Invincible class, open-topped, 
and arrauged so as to give both broadside and right ahead and astern 
fire from corner ports. It contains four 8-inch rifled guns and two 6-inch 
chase-guns. An article iu the Revue Maritime et Coloniale, from which 
extracts have been taken, represents the lines of these vessels to be fine, 
the engine-power large, and the speed 13 knots per hour. They are not 
provided with spurs to be used as rams, and have neither the speed nor 
the power of battery possessed by the British ships referred to. 

Next in the sea-going fleet are the four ships named after admirals, 
viz, the Admiral Lazareff and Admiral Greig, carrying each six guns in 
three turrets, and the Admiral Tchitchagoff and Admiral Spiridoff, car- 
rying each four guns in two turrets. These vessels are of the Coles type 
of turret-ships, and differ from each other but little except in number 
of turrets. The first-named two have a free-board of 4 feet, and the 
other two of 5 feet. The displacement is about 3,700 tons, and the 
speed from 9 to 10 knots. The thickness of armor on hulls and turrets 
is 6 inches, and the caliber of the guns only 9 inches. The sea-going 
qualities of these four ships, unless it be near home, may be doubted j 
as coast-defenders, however, they are important additions. 

Last among the sea-going fleet are noticed two wooden armored frig- 
ates, the Sevastopol and Petropavlovsld, built in 1863 and armored with 
plates only 4J iuches thick. They have large crews, numbering 609 and 
682 men. They displace 6,200 tons, have steamed 11 knots, and carry 
batteries respectively of sixteen and twenty 8-inch breech-loading guns, 
and of eight and four 80-pounders. These ships may be regarded as 
obsolete. 

For coast defense Eussia has a considerable fleet. The two circular 
vessels hereafter to be described are the most formidable of the number. 

The next in power are ten monitors, of early date, on Ericsson's plans, 
similar to our harbor and river monitors, drawing nearly 12 feet of water, 
and armored on the sides with 5-iuch plates on a backing of nearly 3 feet. 
The one turret of each vessel is built up of eleven 1-inch plates without 
backing. The two guns in the single turret are 10 inch rifles or 15-inch 
smooth-bores of old pattern. 

The Smertch, a double-turret vessel, built in Eugland in 1864, is armored 
both on the sides and turrets with plates only 4£ inches thick, and car- 



THE RUSSIAN NAVY. 



253 



ries only four 9-iuch guns. There are, however, two other monitors of 
later date and somewhat greater power, bnilt in Russia in 1868. 

These are the Tcharogeika and Rousalka. The side armor is 5 inches 
thick, and that on the turrets 6 inches. They carry four 11-inch rifles 
in two turrets. 

The speed of all these monitors is given at from 6 to 8J knots, and 
they are not provided with spurs for ramming, and must therefore be 
considered as weak vessels, fit only for operations in shallow water. 

UNAR3IORED CRUISERS. 

Of these the following named are the principal, according to their 
class : 



Name. 



5 §3 

a & 



First class i 

The Assletia 

Peresvett 

Svetlana 

Second class: 

Baiane 

Four corvettes, Vitiaz type . . . 
Third class: 

Vome 

Five cruisers, Alraatz type ... 

Two cruisers, Haidaruak type 
Fourth class : 

Sobol 

Three cruisers, Boi'arsine type 

Three cruisers, Zastreb type.. 



2,980 
3,840 
3,090 

2,000 
2, 160 I 

1,820 I 
1,590 : 
1,100 

980 

900 

800 I 



260 
450 

450 

300 
360 

250 
350 
250 

220 
160 
220 



The naval armament of Russia has been for some few years past un- 
dergoing the changes necessary to keep up with the progress of the 
times. Cast-iron smooth-bore guns are gradually being replaced by 
breech-loading steel rifles. The first of these were supplied by Krupp ; 
now they are manufactured in Russia, some at Perm, and others at 
Oboukoff, about nine miles from St. Petersburg, on the left bank of the 
Neva. The Broad well system of breech loading mechanism is employed, 
and the calibers of the guns are 6, 8, 9, and 11 inches. One gun, of 12- 
inch caliber, was manufactured for the Vienna Exposition, but it is not 
known that any others of this size have been made. The broadside- 
ships have not hitherto been armed with guns heavier than 8 inches, 
with 9 inches for stern or chase guns, but it is intended to substitute 
11-inch pieces for these. 

RUSSIxVN CIRCULAR ARMORED SHIPS NOVGOROD AND 
VICE-ADMIRAL POPOFF. 



During the autumn of 1875, Mr. E, J. Reed, C. B., M. P., ex-chief con- 
structor of the British navy, made a visit to Russia for the purpose, as 
stated by him, of inspecting two circular armored vessels, one of them 
being then completed and in commission, and the other under construc- 
tion. While in Russia he wrote several letters to the London Times on 
the subject of these vessels, in which he eulogized them and attached 
so much importance to the advantage of the circular form over that of 
existing types of armored ships, that nearly all the newspapers of Lon- 



254 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



don and some scientific papers also contained articles discussing their 
merits. Subsequently Mr. Gouleaff, a Russian officer, read a paper be- 
fore the Institution of Naval Architects on the many advantages pos- 
sessed by vessels constructed on the circular principle. Finally Mr. 
Eeed was invited to deliver a lecture at the United Service Institution 
in London, and did so February 4, 1876, upon "Circular Ironclads." 

The accompanying illustrations will give a good idea of the outward 
form and design of these much-talked-of Russian vessels. The note- 
worthy points in Mr. Reed's lecture are that — 

In the first place they are circular only in one sense, i. e., their horizontal sections 
only are circular, or, in other words, they have circular water-lines. The departure 
from a circle is a small extension or protuberance at the stern for the purpose of facili- 
tating the arrangement and working of the rudder and steering apparatus. It follows 
as a consequence from the circular form of water-line, that all the radial sections are 
alike; * * * * the bottom of the vessel is an extended, plane surface, which 
is connected with the edge of the deck by a quadrant of a small circle. With this form 
of section great displacement is obtained on moderate draught of water. The deck of 
the circular ship is fumed in section with such curvature as to give in a ship of 100 
feet in diameter a round-up of about 4 feet. There are two PopofFkas already built, 
named respectively the Novgorod, Fig. 1, and the Admiral Popoff, Fig. 2, of which the 
following are the dimensions and other particulars: 



Admiral 
Popoff. 



Extreme diameter 

Diameter of flat bottom 

Depth in hold at center, from under aide of beam to top of the frames of the 

double bottom 

Draught of water forward 

Draught of water aft 

Draught of water, mean 

Height of barbette tower from load water-line 

Diameter of barbette tower, outside 

Height of upper deck at side, from load water-line amidships 

Height of armor on side above water 

Depth of armor below load water-line amidships 

Thickness of armor on sides (including equivalent thickness for the hollow 

iron girders behind armor) 

Thickness of armor on lower strake , 

Thickness of armor on barbette tower 

Thickness of deck-plating 



Ft. In. 

121 

96 



1 6 
1 4 
1 6 



Displacement, in tons ! 2, 490 

Area of midship section, in square feet I 1, ] 70 

Engines, nominal horse-power 

Coal supply, in tons 

Propellers, screw, in number 

Complement of officers and men 

Armament, breech-loading guns : 

Two in number, each weighing, in tons 

Smaller guns in unarmored breastwork 



3, 550 

1,416 

640 

250 

6 

120 

40 
4 



It is but fair to the distinguished desiguer of these vessels, carefully to bear in mind 
that in so far as the Novgorod and Admiral Popoff are concerned, they have been designed 
and built purely for service in shallow waters and near the land. * 

The Novgorod and Admiral Popoff have extensive unarmored houses erected above the 
armored decks. The chief of these is a spacious forecastle, which, of course, adds 
greatly to the buoyancy forward when the sea rises there upon the vessel. I do not 
think even circular vessels, of very law free-board, could be steamed against a heavy 
head sea without such a forecastle, more especially when driven at high speed. * * * 

The chief characteristic of these circular irou-clads is that they are purely and 
simply sea-citadels propelled by steam, and without any attempt to make them con- 
form to the shape of an ordinary ship. The question to be determined hereafter is, is 
this form of vessel thus originated for coast-defense purposes, and proved eminently 
successful for that purpose, available under proper modifications for sea-going citadels f 

I think we may fairly say that, for a sea-going citadel, viewed as a citadel only, 
apart from other features, the circular form is best, because it requires a minimum 
amount of armor to protect a given area or volume, or, in other words, a given amount 
of armor secures the greatest amount of buoyancy. For special purposes some modi- 



THE RUSSIAN NAVY. 255 

lied form might be preferable ; but speaking generally, the circular form is the best for 
floating armor to protect an included space, and also for giving that equal all-round 
cannonade with guns which is so desirable at sea. Starting, then, with this circular 
armored citadel, and wishing to propel it at a given speed at sea, there are several ways 
in which we can deal with it : 

First. We can put engine-power in it just as it stands without modification ; or, 

Second. We can build ends to it like those of an ordinary ship, protecting those ends 
by a belt of armor, as in many other ships ; or, 

Third. We can build such ends to it and protect the lower parts of them by an 
under- water deck of armor, as in the Inflexible ; or, 

Fourth. We can build around it an outer circle of thin iron, with a mere narrow 
belt of armor analogous to the belt of ordinary iron-clads ; or, 

Fifth. We can build around it such an outer circle of thin iron, with an under-water 
deck of armor analogous to that of the Inflexible; or, 

Sixth. We can build short ends to it with either above or under water armored 
decks, but of greatly reduced length as compared with the ends of ordinary ships of 
large beam. 

The Novgorod is the only actual example of the first of these cases that has yet been 
tried, and we may state roughly that in her, 750 tons of armor and 56 tons of guns are 
carried on a displacement of 2,500 tons, and driven at 8.} knots, with 2,270 indicated 
horse-power. This confirms what we already know, viz, that such ships will require 
great power in proportion to displacement. But taking, not the false standard of dis- 
placement, but the better (although not perfect) standard of weight of armor and 
guns as our guide, we shall find nothing very extraordinary in the power required. 

Such are the chief points in Mr. Reed's lecture. I did not see these 
Russian circular vessels, but from an examination of a completely 
equipped model of one of them and the drawings, I reached the con- 
clusion that, as floating forts designed for shallow water, they do pos 
sess some of the merits stated ; but even for this purpose, as at present 
constructed, there are serious objectionable features, some of the most 
prominent of which are given below : 

1st. As the Xovgorocl is built, there is in the center an open-top fixed 
turret, or an iron martello tower, having inside it a revolving platform, 
on which the guns are en barbette. This is the system employed in the 
upper-deck batteries of the French armored ships j but in the French 
ships the towers are located near the sides of the vessels, and high above 
water, while in the Russian vessels they are located in the center and 
un hulls having a free-board of only 18 inches. The barbette principle 
affords very considerable lateral range, but the disadvantages are, as 
here applied, that it leaves the guns and men working them fully ex- 
posed to the fire of the enemy. On shore, artillery officers rarely, if 
ever, contemplate mounting guns en barbette near the level of the water 
where serious and close action is expected. They seek for a high and 
somewhat distant position, where the advantages of an all-round lateral 
and plunging fire are available, and where the exposure of the men and 
the guns is reduced to a minimum. With a view to remedy this serious 
disadvantage in a degree, the second vessel constructed, the Vice- 
Admiral Popoff, has been arranged to work the guns on the disappear- 
ing principle of Rendel, in which the gun is loaded in the low position 
shown in section on Plate 2, and as previously described for the British 
ship T&miraire. This change is only a partial remedy ; the disadvantage 
of the open-top tower slightly above the level of the water still remains. 

2d. The second objection is that the side armor-plates do not extend 
deeper below the water-line than in ordinary vessels, and as the Vice- 
Admiral Popoffis 121 feet in diameter, there is this large target at all 
times presented for under -water attack by locomobile torpedoes, instead 
of the bow or stern alone, as would often happen in the attacks on other 
vessels. The extra defense against torpedoes gained from the cellular 
construction by means of the circular system would avail nothing. 

3d. The third objection consists in the complication of the motive ma- 



256 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

chinery. There are six screw-propellers, operated by three sets of en- 
gines. Two of the propellers have diameters greater than the draught 
of the vessel, the periphery of the blades extending below the keel. 
These two screws are three-bladed, and are not worked in shallow water. 
I had considerable experience, during our civil war, on the Mississippi 
River, in building and operating the machinery of the four wide flat- 
bottomed gun-vessels of the Milwaukee class, provided with four screw- 
propellers. I therefore have practical knowledge of the complication 
of the machinery proposed in this case. It is also to be observed that 
the six screw-propellers are unprotected from attacks of any kind. 

4th. The fourth and most serious obj ection to the circular form of ves- 
sels consists in the extraordinary steam-power necessary to drive a ves- 
sel, say, of 121 feet diameter, through the water at a speed equal to that 
of the ordinary vessel of the same carrying capacity. The weight and 
space occupied by the machinery would be so great as to leave but little 
room for all the other requirements. 

Mr. Reed says that the Novgorod made a speed on the measured mile 
of 8J knots; that she has steamed a considerable distance at 1% knots; 
and when he made a trip in her the speed averaged 6J knots. This last 
is probably the real speed when steaming in ordinary weather for a 
period of twenty-four hours or more. If the weights of the steam-ma- 
chinery had been given, and other necessary data, the weights, &c, for 
higher speeds could be readily estimated. 

The first objection raised to the circular vessel, viz, the open-top 
tower, could be remedied in future constructions by substituting the 
Ericsson revolving turret, and the second objection could be removed by 
extending the vertical side armor down to the keel. This would entirely 
protect the vessel from the attacks of moving torpedoes. The third 
objection may be obviated, but the fourth is insurmountable. Therefore 
for sea-going vessels, although the form may be changed by adding euds ? 
as shown at Fig. 8, Plate 1, the principle of construction will not be 
likely to meet with favor from naval architects, much less from naval 
officers. 

HYDRAULIC GUN-CARRIAGES FOR THE POPOFFKAS. 

A correspondent gives the following description of the hydraulic gun- 
carriage which has been manufactured in England for the Vice- Admiral 
Popoff: 

la tbe case of the circular iron-clad, the problem was to accommodate two 12-iuch 
40-ton guns, 20 feet long over all, and 4 feet 10 inches in diameter, in a turret only 26 
feet in diameter and 6 feet 10 inches deep. The task was by do means an easy one, 
but by adopting many novel expedients and substituting cast steel for cast irou, it has 
been buccessfully accomplished. The sides of the carriages are composed of 6-inch 
wrought-iron plates, connected together by cast-steel frames, so as to form a solid and 
rigid platform. The guns are placed each side of the center pivot as near as they could 
be brought together, and are each mounted on a pair of massive wrought-iron levers, 
connected by a rocking shaft, and elevated or lowered by water-pressure, acting on 
steel trunks sliding in steel cylinders. From the bottom of each cylinder a 4- inch pipe 
leads to a valve-chest containing the recoil-valve, which is loaded to the necessary 
degree of pressure by a series of disk-springs, the tension of which is increased as the 
gun recoils by means of a pair of chains wrapping round the rocking shaft connecting 
the levers on which the gun is supported. For raising the gun and lowering it with- 
out firing, a special hand- valve is provided and connected to the pressure-pipes. The 
rotation of the gun-platform is performed by a pair of 40-horse engines, driving a cast- 
steel annular toothed wheel, weighing seven tons. The wheel is a fair example of the 
perfection to which steel castings have beeu brought. The motive power is water 
under a pressure of between 800 and 1,000 pounds per square inch, supplied by a duplex 
pump perfectly automatic in its action, stopping as soon as the required pressure is 
obtained, and starting the moment it falls, working at a rate corresponding to the 






THE EUSSIAN NAVY. 257 

requirement of the guns. These pumps are adequate to work the guns direct, but to 
keep them of moderate dimensions, and at the same time to retain tie power of rapidly 
elevating the guns, a compressed-air receiver, made of Whit worth's steel, has been 
provided, together with a number of tubular air-reservoirs. The air is compressed up 
to a certain point, and remains perpetually ready for use, expanding and driving the 
water out of the receiver in raising the guns, and being compressed again to its normal 
state by the water forced out of the receiver by the pumps. Another advantage of the 
arrangement is that, the reservoir being of sufficient capacity, two shots can be fired 
before it is necessary to have recourse to pumping. The whole of che machinery neces- 
sary for working the guns is arranged on the mam deck of the vessel below the water- 
line, while the parts exposed to some extent in the turret are of such a massive character 
that they are not likely to be injured by fragments of shells or fire from the enemy's 
tops. These gun-carriages being of entirely novel and original design, and, moreover, 
mounting the heaviest guns that have ever yet been worked on this system of protected 
barbette, it was thought prudent to erect them in tne first instance on shore, so that 
they might be thoroughly tested. They have accordingly been placed at Cronstadt, 
near Fort Menchikoff, and have been very satisfactorily tried, as we may gather from 
the following article in the Cronstadt Yestnik : 

"Tne trials of the Moncrieff hydro-pneumatic gun-carriage. — On Wednesday, the 31st of 
October, three shots were fired from the two 1'2-inch 40-ton guns mounted on the Mon- 
crieff disappearing system in the presence of His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke 
General Admiral and staff. The first charge consisted of 60 pounds of prismatic powder, 
the second of 81 pounds, and the third of 117 pounds ; and in each case cylindro- 
conical shot weighing 648 pounds. In each of these discharges the machinery worked 
splendidly, the hydraulic cylinders permitting a recoil of 4 feet, and not a single bolt 
o: nut was in any way disturbed. During the first series of experiments, on Monday, 
the 29th ultimo, one blank and six shotted charges were fired ; on Wednesday, in the 
presence of the Grand Duke, three shotted charges ; and to-day, November 1, again 
three charges were fired, with 81 pounds, 117 pounds, and 144 pounds of powder, in 
the presence of the director of the ministry of marine and a number of admirals, who 
arrived in Cronstadt at eleven o'clock in the steam-yacht Neva. We understand that 
on the 3d instant a systematic course of experiments will be undertaken by a commission 
which has been appointed for the purpose, and as soon as these have been satisfactorily 
concluded, the gun-carriage will be taken to pieces and sent to Nicolaeff, to be fixed 
ou the circular iron-clad Yice-Admiral Popoff" 

persox:n t el of the russiax xayy. 

Tbe personnel of the Russian navy, one year ago, consisted of 81 flag 
officers of all ranks, 1,224 other officers, 513 mates, 210 artillery officers, 
143 engineer officers, 545 mechanicians, 56 constructors, and 260 medical 
officers. Employed at the admiralty dock-yards, &c, there were 297 
officers and 480 civil officials, and the total number of enlisted men was 
24,500. Ko marines are employed, the military as well as the nautical 
duties of every man-of-war being performed by the officers and sailors. 

The expenses of this navy during the financial year 1878 are estimated 
at $ 19,970,090. This includes $3,990,578 for the construction of ships, 
torpedo-boats, and torpedoes. The figures are based upon the assump- 
tion that the rouble is equivalent to 79i cents, silver. 

The Russian navy has done little to boast of during the present war 
with the Turks. Except the attack and destruction of one Turkish gun- 
boat, the Saiffee, by torpedoes operated from boats by two gallant lieu- 
tenants, and the unsuccessful attacks against two other gunboats, there 
are no brilliant achievements. The most powerful ship of the fleet, the 
Peter the Great, as seen above, met with peculiar difficulties. Another 
important armored ship, the General Admiral, after being completed last 
autumn, tried at sea and pronounced successful, came to grief by being 
driven ashore in a gale at Cronstadt and badly strained and damaged. 
Besides these mishaps the "cyclads," from which so much was expected, 
have done absolutely nothing during the present war ; the reasons are 
set forth in the Moscow Gazette, a leading Russian journal. It says: 

The Admiral Popoff and the Xorgorod, which have long been stationed at Odessa, re- 
ceived orders from St. Petersburg to proceed to the Sulina mouth of the Danube and 

17 K 



258 EUEOPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

attack the Turkish monitors there. Having been ordered to put to sea for a few days' 
trial, the result showed that when the sea is rough the ventilators have to be closed ; 
that the heat of the interior of the vessel was so great as to be unendurable ; that they 
are ill-suited for maneuvering, and that in bad weather they are scarcely seaworthy. 
It was accordingly decided that the orders could not be carried out. 

DOCKYARDS. 

There are two dock-yards in the city of St. Petersburg. The first and 
larger is employed both as a construction and equipment yard, while 
the second and smaller is exclusively a building -yard. The batteries of 
ships of war, however, are not placed on board at either yard, the arma- 
ments being supplied at Cronstadt. The principal engineering estab- 
lishment is at Kolpino, on the river Eshorra ; it was founded by Peter 
the Great, and in it are now manufactured the steam-machinery, armor- 
plates, castings, and other articles for the navy. The copper sheathing 
is also rolled here and chain-cables made. There is also a government 
manufacture of steel, known as the Aboukoffsky Steel Works; it is 
located at Alexandrovsky. In addition to the steel made for ordinary 
use, there is manufactured here cannon-steel from irons drawn from the 
mountains of Siberia. 

The list of Russian armored ships, with their principal dimensions 
and other data, is given herewith. 



THE RUSSIAN NAVY. 



259 




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THE TUKKISH NAYY. 

TABLES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF ARMORED SHIPS AND 
PERSONNEL OF THE TURKISH NAVY. 

THE AUSTEIAN NAVY. 

THE TEGETHOFF; TABLE OF DIMENSIONS, ETC., OF THE 

ARMORED SHIPS OF AUSTRIA, AND THE 

PERSONNEL OF THE NAVY. 



2G1 



THE TURKISH NAVY. 



The annexed list of armored ships will convey a very fair idea of the 
strength of this navy in 1877 ? as relates to its materiel. 

The ships are for the greater part of English build, of modern type, 
furnished with Armstrong guns, engineered by Englishmen, and their 
principal officer, Hobart Pasha, was formerly an officer in the British 
navy. In addition to the fighting-ships represented on the list, the 
Turkish navy is possessed of three old wooden ships of the line, mount- 
ing an aggregate of 254 old smooth-bore guns, five wooden frigates, and 
seven corvettes, mounting about 300 guns; also, twenty-one smaller 
craft, having about 80 guns. All of these vessels are screw-steamers. 
In addition to the foregoing, there are four paddle-wheel vessels, mount- 
ing 4 guns each; three sailing-cruisers, with an aggregate of 8 guns; 
and twenty-two dispatch-boats, carrying 64 guns in all. Of these last, 
however, quite a number are very old and doubtless unseaworthy. 
There are also three royal yachts of high speed, which might be utilized 
as dispatch-boats, and five old transports, mounting 2 or 3 guns each. 

In addition to the naval vessels, Turkey has twenty-nine large steam- 
ers belonging to companies or to private individuals, which may be 
made available for transportation of troops or supplies. 

The last vessels built for the Turkish armored fleet are the sister 
ships Memdoohiyeh and Mesoodiyeh, built by the Thames Iron Works 
Company, and the sister ships Burdj Sheref and PeyJc JSheref, constructed 
by Messrs. Samuda Bros. Favorable opportunities were seized during 
my visits to the Thames building-yards to inspect these ships, the first 
named being afloat and well advanced toward completion, the second on 
the blocks and subsequently launched, and the remaining two in the 
early stages of construction. The Mesoodiyeh was delivered to the Sultan 
of Turkey in 187G; the other three have been detained in England under 
existing international law, consequent upon the war between Russia and 
Turkey, and at least two of them, as has been mentioned elsewhere, have 
been purchased by the British Government.* 

The Memdoohiyeh and Mesoodiyeh are powerful ships, as may be seen from 
the data here given, and from a view of the accompanying drawings. 
The principal dimensions and other data are given in the foregoing table 
of armored ships of the British navy. They are full-rigged frigates of 
the broadside central-battery type, with hulls of the usual cellular con- 
struction, there being iu all 82 water-tight compartments. The battery 
is 153 feet in length, and the armor-plating on the sides is 12 inches 
thick, backed by the same thickness of East India teak. 

The armaments were furnished by Sir W. G. Armstrong & Co., and 
consisted originally of twelve 18-ton guns on the gun deck, two 6^-ton 
guns on the upper deck forward, and one of the same caliber aft. 

* Since the above was written, it has been authoritatively announced that all three 
of these vessels have been purchased by the British Government ; they have, therefore, 
been placed upon the list of British armored ships in this report under the names, re- 
spectively, of Superb, Orion, and Belleisle. 

263 



264 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

The steam-machinery of the MemdooMyeh was constructed by Messrs. 
Maudslay, Sons & Field. The engines are of that firm's well-known 
old type, with two piston-rods to each cylinder, connected by an in- 
clined cross-head, one rod passing over and the other below the crank- 
shaft. The two steam-cylinders are each 116 inches in diameter, and 
the stroke of pistons 4 feet. The surface-condensers contain 8,800 com- 
position tubes, each 8J feet in length by finch diameter inside, giving 
a total condensing surface of 16,500 square feet. The condensing water 
is circulated by two 3-foot centrifugal pumps, each pump being capable 
of circulating 5,000 gallons of water per minute. The diameter of the 
screw-propeller is 23 feet, and the pitch, as set on the trial-trip, 19J feet. 
It is arranged to be disconnected from the screw-shaft, and to revolve 
when the ship is under sail. 

The boilers are eight in number, and of the rectangular type, each 
containing five furnaces 7J by 3 leet. The total grate-surface is 900 
square feet, and total heating surface, 22,500 square feet. 

The results of the trials on the measured mile are given by The 
Engineer. Six runs were made, every alternate one being against the 
tide — the means of all being, revolutions per minute, 66.3 ; vacuum, 26.5 
inches; boiler-pressure, 28.5 pounds; speed in knots, 13.74. 

THE BUEDJ SHEEEF AND PEYK SHEEEF. 

These are twin-screw, central-battery, armored corvettes; their gen- 
eral dimensions and particulars are, length, 245 feet; beam, 52 feet; 
depth of hold, 22 feet; mean draught of water, 19 feet 3 inches; and 
a displacement of 4,700 tons. The armor on the belt is 12 inches and 
8 inches thick, reduced at the ends as usual. On the battery the 
armor is from 10 to 5 inches thick. The teak backing varies from 12 
to 8 inches in thickness. The main deck plating over the engines and 
boilers is 3 inches thick, and beyond that 2 inches thick. The arma- 
ment consisted of four 25-ton Armstrong guns, so arranged as to com- 
mand an all-around fire, and when firing in broadside to concentrate 
their lire within 60 yards of the vessel's side. The motive machinery 
has been furnished by Messrs. Maudslay, Sons & Field, and consists, 
for each vessel, of two pairs of simple engines the cylinders of which 
are 65 inches in diameter and have a stroke of 2 feet 6 inches ; the 
engines are intended to run at a speed of 100 revolutions per minute. 
Steam is supplied to the engines by four boilers having 20 furnaces in 
all, a grate surface of 466 square feet, and a heating surface of 11,610 
square feet. The amount of iudicated horse-power contracted for was 
3,900; that actually developed on trial was 4,020. 

The Pey~k Sherefwas recently put on trial under the surveillance of the 
lords of the British admiralty, to test her speed and sea-going quali- 
ties. The trial was made with all the guns, ammunition, coal, and stores 
on board, and the results obtained were in all respects satisfactory* 
One important feature developed was the extreme haudiness and quick- 
ness with which she answered her helm, and in testing this quality the 
vessel was found to make the entire circle, with engines going at full 
speed, in 3 minutes and 30 seconds, and in a diameter of 420 yards. 
The mean of six runs, with and against the tide, gave an average speed 
of 13 knots, or one knot in excess of the contract speed. The perform- 
ance of the engines, also, was satisfactory. 



THE TURKISH NAVY. 



265 






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266 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 



PERSONNEL OF THE TURKISH NAVT. 

The relative strength of European navies has of late been much dis- 
cussed ; the ships composing them have been compared with one another 
in nearly every conceivable manner; their tonnage, armament, the 
thickness of their armor, their speed, and their power of maneuvering 
have each and all been taken as the standard by which to measure and 
gauge their respective merits. Consequently we are at the present time 
tolerably well acquainted with the power of every armored vessel afloat, 
both for offense and defense, so far as this is dependent upon the struct- 
ural arrangements and weapons of the ship itself. But there is another 
element, besides the material of which it consists, which must be taken 
into account, if we wish rightly to estimate the strength of a navy. Its 
value as a part of the armed forces of a country will depend largely both 
upon the quality and the quantity of its personnel. The most heavily 
armored and the most heavily armed man-of-war afloat will be of com- 
paratively little use unless it is adequately and efficiently manned ; the 
swiftest cruiser will hardly fulfill her mission properly unless she is skill- 
fully worked. It is undoubtedly much more difficult for a nation to ob- 
tain an efficient personnel for its fleet than it is to provide the ships 
themselves. 

Turkey has long been in straitened circumstances, and yet she has 
purchased a fleet which places her, so far as ships are concerned, among 
the naval powers of the world; but, although a nation may buy ships, 
it must trust to its own resources to obtain officers and crews to man and 
work them. Whatever may be the system adopted by the Sultan for 
the recruiting and maintenance of the personnel of his navy, they are 
notoriously inefficient as sailors; though, if brought to bay, they would 
fight as desperately now as at Navarino and Sinope. 

THE TURKISH FLOTILLA OX THE DANUBE. 

Nothing in the present war has been more surprising than the little 
that has been accomplished by the Turkish fleet, especially on the Dan- 
ube. When the war broke out the Turks had a flotilla on that river 
consisting of the following vessels : Fetli el Islam (Moslem Victory), 
Burdj-idelan (Heart-piercer), Semendriyeh, Iscodra, and Podgoritza, the 
last three called after names of places. These five vessels were small 
craft about 150 feet long, fitted with engines of 80 " nominal n horse- 
power, and carried each of them two 80-pounder Armstrong guns in a 
battery protected by 2-inch armor. In addition to these armored gun- 
boats, there were two of recent construction and much more formidable 
qualities, the Rizber (Lion) and Saiffee (Sword). These vessels each 
carried two 80-pounder Krupp guns in revolving turrets on the upper 
deck, protected by 3-inch armor, and a belt of the same thickness 
was placed around the water-line. Their length was 120 feet, and the 
horse-power of the engines 100. There were, besides, several wooden 
steamers armed as gunboats; and two large sea-going monitors, the 
Latif-i-djelit and Hafiz-i- Rahman, were sent up the river on the declara- 
tion of war. All this formidable force soon disappeared, or was com- 
pletely checkmated. The Latif-i-djelit was the first vessel destroyed — 
by accident, as the Turks aver; by artillery fire, as the Russians assert. 
Of the armored gunboats, three have been lost : the Saiffee, destroyed by 
torpedoes, and the Iscodra and Podgoritza, both of which fell into Rus- 
sian hands on the taking of Nicopolis. Besides the vessels above named, 



THE TUEKISH NAVY. 267 

the Turks have lost four wooden vessels : the Sulina, a 60 horse-power 
gunboat of the old type, designed for the Baltic during the war of 1855 ; 
and three river steamers, one destroyed by a torpedo and the others by 
the fire of Bussian batteries. Thus the whole naval power of the Turks 
in the Danube has been either destroyed, captured, or neutralized. 
Even in the Black Sea nothing has been accomplished by the Ottoman 
navy at all in proportion to its immense preponderance of force. 

The Loudon Times translates from a Russian journal the official report 
of Lieutenant Dubasoff upon his successful attack against the Turkish 
armored gunboat Saiffee. It is as follows : 

My plan of attack was this: Upon entering the Matchin branch of the river I or- 
dered the four cutters under my command to sail in a straight line one after the other. 
The Cesarewitch, which I commanded in person, was to go first ; then the Xenia, under 
Lieutenant Shestakoff ; then the Djigit, under Midshipman Persin : and the last, the 
Cesarevna, under Midshipman Ball. In this order we were to creep along the shore 
until in sight of the enemy, when speed was to be slackened. Advancing toward the 
middle of tbe river, the cutters were then to go two and two, the Cesarewitch and Xenia 
in front, and the Djigit and Cesarevna behind. From the moment of entering the Mat- 
chin branch to the moment of attack we were to proceed slowly, to reduce the noise of 
the engines and the splash of the water to a minimum. As we neared the enemy we 
were to increase speed. I was to attack, with Shestakoff following close ; Persin was 
to keep ready to assist in case of accident, and Ball to remain in reserve. If the ship 
attacked first by us was disabled by the explosion, Lieutenant Shestakoff was to attack 
the second ship, with Persin supporting him, all rendering help, and myself keeping in 
reserve. Supposing the second explosion to be likewise successful, Persin was ordered 
to attack the third ship, with Ball supporting him, myself rendering assistance, and 
Shestakoff remaining in reserve. 

The night between the 13th and 14th of May was cloudy, but not quite dark, the 
moon being mostly visible. There was a light breeze from the northwest, conveying 
the sound of our approach to the enemy. With the exception of the Cesarewitch, how- 
ever, we went on noiselessly. 

Early on the 13th we surveyed the enemy's position from the hills on our side of the 
river. When we approached their place of anchorage I ordered the steam to be shut 
off, to prevent any noise, but the steam quickly falling to 32 (I generally kept it at 50), 
I was four times compelled to stop the engine for a while in sight of the enemy. As 
this was likely to attract attention, I, after the last stoppage, ordered Shestakoff to 
readmit the steam, and to follow me rapidly to the nearest monitor, which I intended 
to attack fir&t. At the moment of giving this order we were 60 sajen (420 feet, Eng- 
lish) from the monitor. Notwithstanding, however, the noise with which we were 
proceeding, we were hailed by the watch only after performing half the distance. I 
answered what I thought to be the regulation reply, but have since heard that it was 
not in form, and that my mistake awakened immediate suspicion. The artillerymen, 
who had laid down for the night on deck, were awoke by the first report of the signal- 
rifle. I suspect that our excursion the preceding night had attracted attention, and 
that all the monitors were on the qui vice. Indeed the monitors, as we discovered on 
approaching them, had left their former anchorage and gone nearer Matchin. 

The monitor had her steam up, and firing at us from her stern-guns on the upper 
deck might have inflicted considerable damage. I therefore determined to make for 
the stern, and thereby escape danger and deprive the vessel of her moving powers. 
The connecting-wire I ordered to be kept in readiness to be used at any moment. My 
calculation proved correct. We no sooner neared the ship than the stern-gun opened 
fire. Three bullets were discharged without effect, and before the fourth could be fired 
I had passed the stern, and, coming up to the left side of the ship, sprang the mine, 
which destroyed the stern. It was a torpedo attached to a pole, and hit the ship 
between stern and midships, a little before the stern-post. The water rushing 
into the sides of the monitor, the waves washed over the cutter. Many fragments 
were thrown to a height of about 120 feet. Some bits of furniture falling into 
the cutter proved the explosion to have taken effect right through the ship up to the 
deck. The crew of the monitor hastened from stern to prow, the stern sinking consid- 
erably into the water. I took measures to save my men, but finding the cutter had 
righted herself, endeavored to back astern and put the steam-ejector into operation to 
pump out the water. At this moment the sinking monitor began to fire out of her 
turret, when I called out to Lieutenant Shestakoff to deal another blow. Quickly 
coming up, he inflicted the deadly blow a little behind the turret just as the turret- 
gun was firing a second shot. Lieutenant Shestakoff, it is necessary to observe, actu- 
ally touching the monitor with his prow, lodged his torpedo under the keel amidships, 
about twenty feet from the prow-post. As in the first instance, the effect of the ex- 



268 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

plosion was tremendous, as may be inferred from cabin-furniture being hurled into the 
air and falling afterward into the cutter Xenia. After the second explosion the crew 
of the monitor, finding it impossible to continue their artillery, with remarkable bravery 
seized their rifles, discharging one salvo after the other. Neither I nor Shestakoff could, 
get away as fast as we wished. The screw of Shestakoff's cutter had got entangled 
with some of the broken fragments, while my vessel was so full of water that I had to 
set the whole crew to work to bale it out with pails, the steam-ejector having refused 
to work. During the whole of this time Shestakoff kept up a raking rifle-fire against 
the enemy. The two other Turkish vessels (one a steamer, the other a monitor) had 
kept firing at us ever since the first discharge of the attacked monitor. The steamer 
evidently was provided with smooth-bore guns, which the crew did not fire with dis- 
patch or precision. Possibly the steamer being 60 sajen nearer to us than the second- 
monitor and having her deck inundated with water, the men found it impossible to 
handle their guns effectively. The second monitor, being more advantageously placed, 
could turn her battery upon us without any difficulty. Her shot fell some distance 
from our stern, and subsequently, when we had got away from the monitor, passed 
over our heads. The rifle-fire from both ships was kept up incessantly while we were 
alongside and when we had got away. 

The Turkish commander did not avenge his defeat and make repri- 
sals on the crafty foe, but in a dispatch to the Sultan, published in a 
Constantinople journal, may be read how the admiral who had lost an 
iron-clad, the best hope of his country against the passage of the Danube 
by that country's traditional foe, being deeply touched at the disaster, 
and having determined that it should not be repeated, gave orders to 
his crews to leave the dangerous neighborhood, and they steamed quietly 
down the river to a place where there were neither batteries nor tor- 
pedoes, there, perchance, to smoke and dream. There has not been a 
single success, nor even one gallant failure, by the Turkish navy dur- 
ing the war. 



THE AUSTRIAN NAVY. 



The naval authorities of Austria, in common with those of other Eu- 
ropean countries, have paid dearly for the error of building wooden ar- 
mored ships. The Kaiser Max, the Prinz Eugen, and the Bon Juan cV Aus- 
tria constituted the early iron-clad fleet of Austria. The decay of the 
wooden hulls, insufficient strength, and the advancement made in de- 
fense as well as offense of the modern fighting-ships, some time since 
rendered these vessels useless. As a matter of economy, however, it 
was decided to reconstruct them, with the view of utilizing as far as 
practicable the machinery and materials. They were accordingly taken to 
pieces, and the replacing of the wooden hulls with hulls of iron proceeded 
with, advantage being taken of the superior lightness of the iron hull in 
providing for a considerable increase of armor strength in vital places* 
The original engines and most of the fittings of the wooden ships are 
being used in the iron ones ; and this object is being carried into effect, 
it is said, with economy. The constructor says : 

It is true that the engines of the three old ships cannot give a higher speed to the 
new ships than 12 knots per hour, but instead of building only one new ship we will 
possess three rams. 

It remains to be seen, after these ships have been completed, what 
success has attended the making of modern fighting-vessels from the 
materials of obsolete ships, engined with the old types of machinery. 

Of armored vessels the Austrian navy had at the beginning of last 
year seven casemated ships, two frigates, two corvettes, and two river 
monitors, an eighth vessel of the first class being on the stocks. Of 
the seven casemated vessels, the Custozza and Erzherzog Albrecht are 
the most heavily armed and armored; the former carries eight 10-inch 
Krupp guns, and has 9J inches of iron armor at the water-line, while the 
latter has the same armament, but one inch less of armor. The Custozza, 
when loaded, displaces 7,060 tons of water, and can attain a speed of 
14 knots when her maximum indicated engine-power of 6,000 horses is 
developed ; she is 302 feet 3 inches long between perpendiculars, has 
an extreme breadth of 57 feet 10 inches, and a mean draught of 23 feet 
8.J inches. The Erzherzog Albrecht has a displacement of 5,940 tons, 
an indicated horse-power of 4,300, and has reached on trial a speed 
of 13 knots ; her length between perpendiculars is 275 feet 7 inches, her 
breadth 54 feet 5 inches and mean draught 21 feet. Both of these 
vessels have iron hulls, and were launched in 1872. The Lissa and Kai- 
ser are wooden vessels of older construction, and are both protected 
by 6;J-inch plates. The Lissa is the larger vessel of the two ; her length 
is 274 feet inches, extreme breadth 55 feet, and mean draught 26 
feet 1 inch; she carries twelve 9£-inch guns of Krupp's manufacture, 
has a displacement of 6,080 tons, and is driven by engines of 3,550 horse- 
power at a speed of 13 knots; while the Kaiser, with a length of 263 
feet 8 inches, a breadth of 59 feet 5 inches, and a mean draught of 24 
feet 10J inches, attains a speed of 12 knots with 2,380 horse-power eu- 
gines, displaces 5,810 tons, and is armed with ten 9-inch guns of Arm- 
strong make. The Kaiser Max, Don Juan d' Austria, and Prinz Eugen, as 

239 



270 EUEOPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

mentioned above, are all remodeled iron vessels; the first two were 
launched in 1875, and the last named in 1876 ; they are sister ships, having 
the same dimensions throughout and the same armament; each has a 
length between perpendiculars of 222 feet, a breadth of 44 feet 2 inches, 
and a mean draught of 20 feet 5 inches, displaces 3,550 tons, and steams 
at a speed of 8^ knots, with engines having 1,710 horse-power ; the arma- 
ment of each, also, is twelve 7-inch Armstrong guns. 

The two armored frigates, JErzherzog Ferdinand Max and Habsburg, 
are wooden vessels of much older construction than any of the case- 
mated ships ; they are sister vessels, and were launched in 1865 ; their 
length between perpendiculars is 253 feet 2 inches, extreme breadth 50 
feet 10 inches, and mean draught 22 feet 5 inches ; each has a displace- 
ment of 5,140 tons, an indicated horse-power of 2,902, and a speed of over 
10 knots; the armament consists of fourteen 8J inch Krupp guns, and 
the armor of 5-inch plates. 

The Drache and Salamander, sister vessels of old style, are wooden 
station service ships, armored with 4|-inch plates and carrying each 
ten 7-inch Armstrong rifles ; each vessel has a length of 196 feet 6 inches, 
a breadth of 43 feet 7 inches, and a mean draught of 19 feet 11 inches; 
the displacement is 3,110 tons, horse-power 1,418, and speed 7 knots. 

There are also two single-turret monitors, sister vessels, which were 
launched in 1871 for service on the Danube; these vessels, the Maros 
and Leitha, have a length of 160 feet 1 inch, with a breadth, extreme, 
of 26 feet 8 inches, and a draught of 3 feet 6 inches; their displace- 
ment is 310 tons, horse-power 314, and speed about 6 knots; each is 
armed with two 6-inch Krupp guns and protected by 1J inches of armor. 

The unarm ored ships of Austria are all wooden vessels ; they com- 
prise three frigates, with an aggregate displacement of 9,510 tons and 
an armament of 63 guns, five spar-decked corvettes, three flush-decked 
corvettes, five gunboats, five screw-schooners, three paddle-wheel steam- 
ers, two dispatch-vessels, three transports, and one torpedo vessel. 

The latest design and the most important fighting-ship of the Aus- 
trian navy is the armored ship Tegethoff, recently completed at the works 
of the Stabilimento Technico at Trieste. 

THE TEGETHOFF. 

The Tegethofis a broadside central-battery ship, in which tbe batteries 
project over the sides of the vessel, as first introduced in the upper bat- 
teries of the British Audacious class. The following figures give her 
dimensions, calculated elements, &c: 

Length between perpendiculars 286 feet 11£ inches* 

Length, total 303 feet l| inches- 

Breadth on water-line 62 feet 9 inches. 

Extreme breadth to the outside of armor 71 feet H inches. 

Depth of hold 34 feet 7 inches- 

Draught of water aft 26 feet 71 inches- 

Draught of water forward 23 feet 1 inch. 

Displacement with one-half of the provisions 7, 390 tons. 

Area of the midship section 1,301 square feet. 

Area at the load water-line 14,308 square feet. 

Height of metacenter above center of gravity of displacement ... 14. 623 feet. 

Height of metacenter above water 4. 770 feet. 

Distance of the center of gravity of displacement forward of the 

midship section 3. 356 feet. 

Depth of the center of gravity of displacement below water 9. 853 feet. 

Coefficient of displacement 0. 582 

Coefficient of water-line 0.782 

Coefficient of midship section 0. 82 

Displacement of an inch immersion at the load water-line 34. 47 tons. 

Weight of armor and backing 2, 160 tons. 



THE AUSTRIAN NAVY. 271 

The armament consists of six 11-inch Krupp guns. 

Area of sails 12, 165 square feet. 

Cost of hull, estimated $839,759 

Cost of engines and boilers, estimated $397, 135 

Nominal horse-power 1, 200 

Number of cylinders 2 

Diameter of cylinder, effective 125 inches. 

Length of stroke 4 feet 3 inches. 

Griffith's propeller, diameter 23 feet 6 inches. 

Pitch 24 feet. 

Number of blades 2 

Revolutions per minute 70 

Number of boilers 4 

Area of fire-grate 850 square feet. 

Heating surface 25, 500 square feet. 

Superheating surface 1, £00 square feet. 

Pressure of steam 30 pounds. 

Number of furnaces 36 

Mean indicated horse-power 8, 000 

Speed, estimated 14 knots. 

Mr. E. J. Beerl, C. B., M. P., before the Institution of Naval Architects 
in London, in April, 1876, spoke as follows of this ship: 

From these figures it will be seen that although we are not dealing with a ship of 
the Infltxible type, in which armor of excessive thickness is placed over a central cita- 
del of extremely limited extent, we nevertheless have a very powerful sbip indeed, 
with armor of apparently about 13 to 14 inches thick, and with a concentrated battery 
of six 11-inch Krupp guns, each weighing, I presume, about 27 tons. The ship has a 
belt of armor extending from the stern to within about 30 feet of the foremost perpen- 
dicular, where it terminates in a transverse armored bulkhead, and a stout iron deck 
going forward to the stem at about 7 feet below water. It would appear from this 
that the Austrian authorities consider that a strong iron stem, supported by a stout 
deck near the point of the ram, is sufficient for ramming purposes, whereas in our 
navy we have thought it better, beginning, if I remember rightly, with the Rupert and 
Hotspur, to keep the bow armor and carry it down at the stem to considerably below 
the ram point. We take it for granted that the latter, or English, arrangement would 
at least have the advantage of protecting the ram bow from much local damage in 
ramming iron vessels, and this is no doubt very desirable where a ship is designed 
primarily as a ram, as were the Rupert and Hotspur ; while, on the other hand, where 
the ram is a subordinate feature, as in the Tegethoff, it may be unnecessary to burden 
the bow with so much armor protection. 

It is worth while to observe in this connection that the Austrians, who have had 
practical experience of the effects of ramming in actual warfare, have in this, their 
largest and most powerful ship, preserved a very great length of undei running or 
sheer projection. * * * The projection is 9 feet from the stern at the load water- 
line and 19 feet from the stem head. 

I observe next in this ship, the Austrian admiralty have adopted an improvement 
in armor to which I have for a long time past attached great importance. I refer to 
the getting rid for the most part of great curvature. Of course armor-plates, if carried 
round the ends of a ship, must be bent to the curvature of the water-lines ; and when 
imbedded, so to speak, in the sides of a ship of ordinary form and curvature, as has 
been usual in sea going ships, they must also be bent crosswise. Now, this double curv- 
ature of the plates is not only an expensive process, but it is also injurious to the 

armor-plates in some degree. 

* * # * # * # 

By so designing the ships that the armor-plates have only to be curved in one direc- 
tion, all these disadvantages and difficulties are practically got rid of. The next fea- 
ture to be remarked in this ship is that the battery is of the projecting type, which so 
greatly facilitates the obtainment of direct fire ahead and astern from a midship-bat- 
tery without excessive recession of the unarmored parts of the ship before and abaft 
the battery. 

The admiralty constructors and myself introduced this arrangement in many cases 
of upper-deck batteries in ships designed while I was at the admiralty Cmost notably 
in the case of the Audacious class), but I do not think the same thing has been done at 
the admiralty in the case of the main-deck battery. I have, however, done it myself 
in several ships for foreign governments since I left the admiralty, and I give exam- 
ples in Figs. 1 and 2, which represent outline sections of the Kaiser and Deutschland 
(German), and the Almirante, Cochrane, and Valparaiso (Chilian), armor-clad ships. 

In the Tegethoff, the overhang is very low and considerable in amount, the battery 



272 THE AUSTRIAN NAVY. 

projecting between 4 feet and 5 feet, the spread commencing at 18 inches above the 
water, and terminating at a height of 6 feet. 

The armored citadel of the Tegethoff is to be furnished with a transverse armored 
bulkhead abaft the two foremost guns, an arrangement which will prevent the battery 
from being raked in chasing. This improvement exists in the Alexandra, where it was, 
I believe, introduced for the first time by the present admiralty constructors. The 
foremost bulkhead of the battery is inclined forward at a considerable angle to within 
about 4 feet of the middle line, where it becomes transverse, as shown. Immediately 
over this foremost portion of the battery, at the middle, is a very strong pilot-tower, 
standing well above both the gunwale and the forecastle. This shows that the Aus- 
trian officers who have been in an action with iron-clads do not consider such towers 
unnecessary. The above appear to me to be the principal features of the Tegethoff. It 
may be interesting to add that, while the outer skin and angle- irons of the hull are 
of iron, all the remainder is of Bessemer steel, varying in tensile strength from 30 to 
33 tons per square inch of section, and possessing this, as I am informed, in combina- 
tion with 25 per cent, of ductility. This Bessemer steel is produced very successfully 
in Styria and Carinthia, from which districts of Austria the chief supplies of the Tege- 
thoff are derived. I may further add that, in designing this ship, much consideraticn 
has been given to securing both strength and subdivision by means of water-tight 
bulkheads between the coal-spaces and the boilers and. else where. 

PERSONNEL OF THE AUSTRIAN NAYY. 

The personnel of the Austrian navy consists, when on a peace footing, 
of 483 officers and 5,836 men ; the list of officers comprises the following : 
one admiral, two vice-admirals, sixteen captains of line-of-battle ships, 
seventeen captains of frigates, eighteen captains of corvettes, eighty 
lieutenants of the first class, forty lieutenants of the second class, and, 
finally, one hundred and fifty-four cadets. On a war footing the list 
contains one admiral, six vice-admirals, eighteen captains of line-of-battle 
ships, nineteen captains of frigates, twenty captains of corvettes, ninety 
lieutenants of the first class, forty-five lieutenants of the second class, 
and one hundred and eighty -five cadets. 

The men of the Austrian navy are divided into twelve companies, 
which are quartered at two depots, and, according to their qualifications, 
are trained either as sailors and gunners, or as stokers and engine-artif- 
icers. Those belonging to the first two categories are instructed on 
board hulks and school-ships, the gunners being further taught the 
details of their profession on board the artillery school-ship Adria, which, 
at present, has a complement of 500 men. 

DOCK-YAED. 

The great naval port and dock-yard of Austria is at Pola, in the prov- 
ince of Istria, on the east coast of the Adriatic, about sixty miles south of 
Trieste. The whole naval resources of the country, belonging to the 
government, are concentrated here. The location is excellent, the bay 
and harbor are capacious, and in all respects well adapted for the pur- 
pose, besides which it is susceptible of being strongly fortified. The 
dock-yard, which has existed for a long period, was regarded as of very 
small importance until 1856, at which time its improvement was com- 
menced, and gradually continued since then until it has been brought 
to the present very complete state as an extensive repairing and outfit- 
ting yard for the fleet. Although this dock-yard is equipped with ship- 
houses, buildings, and the necessary appliances for ship construction, 
nearly all vessels for the navy have hitherto been built, by contract, at 
the private building-yards of San Marco and San Eocco, near Trieste. 



THE AUSTRIAN NAVY. 



273 



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FJ^ttT XVIII 



THE NAVIES OF HOLLAND, SPAIN, DENMARK, 
SWEDEN, NORWAY, AND PORTUGAL. 

TABLES OF DIMENSIONS OF ARMORED SHIPS; PERSONNEL OF 

THESE NAVIES. 

BRAZILIAN AND JAPANESE WAR-VESSELS. 

RESUME OF EUROPEAN ARMORED SHIPS, AND ACTIONS IN 
WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN ENGAGED. 



275 



THE DUTCH XA\ Y. 



Holland possesses a navy of considerable strength, as may be seen 
from the appended lists of armored and unarmored ships. The armored 
vessels were built some years ago, and cannot, therefore, now be classed 
with the types recently constructed. There are, however, two sea-going 
ships on the list, viz, the Prins Hendrilc der Nederlanden and the Koning 
der Nederlanden, both of them turret-ships with ram bows; the first 
named was built by Laird Bros., of England, and is of the type of 
the British ship Monarch, but fitted with tripod masts. Her length 
between perpendiculars is 230 feet 2 inches; extreme breadth, 44 feet; 
depth of hold, 26 feet 6 inches; mean draught of water, 18 feet 4 inches; 
and the thickness of armor on the water-line is 5| inches. She is fitted 
with two turrets, constructed after the English system, in each of which 
are mounted two 9-inch Armstrong rifled guns. The height of the bat- 
tery above water is 7 feet 2 inches. The motive power is of the old 
type, the indicated horse power is 2,426, and the speed on the measured 
mile, as reported, was 12 knots. 

For coast defense Holland is provided with nineteen monitors, the 
Buffel and Guinea being the most powerful. These two sister vessels 
have each a displacement of 2,190 tons; length between perpendiculars, 
205 feet ; breadth, extreme, 40 feet ; mean draught of water, 15 feet 6 
inches; and depth of hold, 24 feet. 

The hull is constructed on the bracket-plate system, and provision is 
made for admitting water between the outer and inner skins, to bring 
the ships lower in the water when necessary. 

The battery is in a single turret, and consists of two 9-inch 12-ton 
Armstrong guns, mounted on the Armstrong carriages in their com- 
pleteness; also, four 30-pounders on deck. 

The vessels next of importance are the Schorpioen and Stier, built at 
the Forges ct Chantiers, France. These two sister vessels have single 
turrets, ram bows, and a reported speed, on the measured mile, of 12J 
knots. The length between perpendiculars is 193 feet 6 inches ; mean 
draught of water, 15 feet 6 inches ; displacement, 2,113 tons ; indicated 
horse-power, 2,238. The armament consists of two 9-inch Armstrong 
guns. 

The next ten vessels are known as the Cerberus class, and, as may be seen 
from the following list, the principal data of each are : length between 
perpendiculars, 187 feet; breadth, extreme, 44 feet; draught, mean, 8 
feet 6 inches; armor on the water-line, 5 \ inches; and the speed is 7 
knots. The armament consists of two 12-ton Armstrong guns. 

The naval authorities of Holland inteud to keep up with the progress 
of the times in constructing unarmored ships. One iron corvette of the 
first class, having the bottom sheathed with wood, has already been com- 
pleted, and two others of the same class are building. These vessels 
are designed for fast cruisers, and are fitted with all modern appliances. 

277 



278 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

DOCKYARDS. 

The principal dock-yard of Holland is at Amsterdam, but there is also 
a naval station at Nieuwe Diep. The first-named yard is chiefly devoted 
to construction and repair, and in it several of the smaller monitors 
were built. At the latter place, the ordnance stores, including powder 
and shells, are put on board vessels preparing for service. No articles 
of this description, torpedoes excepted, are kept at Amsterdam. At 
Nieuwe Diep is also located the naval academy. 

At the Hague there is a government foundery for the manufacture of 
bronze cannon ; the gun-carriage shop, pyrotechnic school, and small- 
arm factory are at Delft; the powder-mills at Mindow, and the practice 
firing ground is at Scheveningen. 

PERSONNEL. 

The line officers of the Dutch navy include two vice-admirals, four 
rear-admirals, nineteen captains, forty-three lieutenant-captains, one 
hundred and twenty-three lieutenants of the first class, one hundred and 
eighty-five lieutenants of the second class, and fifty-two midshipmen. 

Engineer officers. — These consist of one chief engineer, director of ma- 
rine architecture; four chief engineers; four engineers of the first class, 
and two of the second class; also, eight engineer officers for service in 
ships, and thirty-five artificers with fixed appointments. 

Medical officers. — One inspector- general, six directing medical officers, 
thirty-two medical officers of the first class, twenty-three of the second 
class, and three surgeon-apothecaries. Also five medical officers of the 
army, detailed for duty in the naval service. 

The permanent petty officers consist of two hundred and twenty-one 
persons, divided into three classes. At the Royal Naval Institute there 
are one hundred and eight cadets, divided into three classes. The ma- 
rine corps is composed in the aggregate of forty-five officers of all grades. 
The naval administration has attached to it three inspectors of adminis- 
tration, eighteen officers of the first class, thirty of the second class, and 
thirty-seven of the third class. 

His Majesty the King is the commander-in-chief, with a staff consist- 
ing of four princes of the royal house, who hold rank as lieutenant- 
admiral, admiral of the fleet, lieutenant-admiral commander-in-chief of 
the fleet, and captain of the staff, respectively. Also, two naval officers 
act as adjutants to His Majesty in ordinary service, or six in extraordi- 
nary service, two adjutants to the commander-in c!iief of the fleet, and 
one to the captain of the staff. 



THE DUTCH NAVY. 



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280 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

UNARMORED SHIPS OF HOLLAND. 

In addition to the armored fleet, Holland possesses a fleet of un armored 
cruising vessels, which are classed as follows : 

1 steam-frigate, wooden, armed with one 60-pounder, forty-two 30-pounders, eight 

6-inch rifles. 
3 screw-corvettes, first class (iron hull sheathed with wood), armed with six 6^-inch 

rifles (2 unfinished). 
5 screw-corvettes, first class, wooden, carrying from twelve to sixteen guns, 30-pounders 

and 6-inch rifles. 
3 screw-corvettes, second class, wooden, carrying six 5-inch and 7-inch rifles. 

1 screw-corvette, third class, composite, carrying two 6-inch and one 7-inch rifle. 

2 screw-corvettes, third class, wooden, carrying two 6-inch rifles and four 4^-inch guns. 

3 screw-corvettes, fourth class, composite, carrying from three to four guns, 4£, 6|, 
and 7-inch rifles (2 unfinished). 

1 side-wheeler, first class, wooden, carryiug six 44-inch guns. 

18 small unarmored gunboats, carrying one 9-inch rifle or one 11-inch gun, for coast, 

harbor, and river defense. 
3 torpedo-boats, for coast, harbor, and river defense. 

A number of old vessels of all classes are used as guard, school, and 
practice ships. 

In addition to the above there is the naval force of the East India 
service, consisting of 13 side-wheelers of the second, third, and fourth 
classes | 15 screw-corvettes of the fourth class, and 5 sailing-vessels. 



THE SPANISH NAVY. 



The ships belonging to the navy of Spain, as registered on the official 
list published by order of the ministro de marina at Madrid, 187G, con- 
sist of eleven armored vessels, nine wooden screw-frigates, six seivw- 
corvettes, fifteen screw-sloops, and sixty-five gunboats. One of the 
frigates, the Asturias, is armed with fifty-one guns, four others mount 
each forty-eight guns, and four have from thirty- three to twenty-eight 
guns each; two of the corvettes mount each eighteen guns, and the 
others from five to three guns: the sloops from two to three guns. 
Some of the gunboats are provided with two guns and others with 
one. The frigates, corvettes, and sloops constitute the cruising-fleet. 
They are mostly, if not all, of obsolete types, having neither guns of suffi- 
cient power to fight nor speed sufficient to run from the enemy. 

It will be seen from the following meager list of fighting-ships that 
none of them have either the armor, speed, or armaments possessed by 
lately-constructed armored vessels. 

The Numancia and Vittoria are the most powerful of the number. 
The former was built at the Forges et Chantiers, France; she is rated as 
a line-of-battle ship, and has a broadside-battery and ram bow. The 
thickness of armor on the water-line is 5 inches; the length is 313 feet 
7 inches between perpendiculars; breadth, extreme, 56 feet 11 inches; 
depth of hold, 28 feet 11 inches; draught of water, mean, 25 feet; and 
displacement, 7,053 tons. The armament consists of six 18-ton guns, 
three of 9 tons each, and sixteen of 7 tons each, all Armstrong rifles. 
The height of battery above water is 7 feet 6J inches. The single-screw 
propeller is operated by machinery of the non-compound type, and the 
maximum horse-power is 3, 70S. The total cost of the ship was $1,540,440, 
gold. 

The Vittoria is of the same general dimensions, but is protected by 5J 
inches of armor instead of 5 inches, and carries four 12-ton, three 0-ton, 
and twelve 7-ton Armstrong rilled guns. The smaller vessels are pro- 
tected by only 4| inch armor, and two of them mount each two 18 ton 
rifled guns besides others of less caliber. 

There is but one turret- vessel on the list, the Puigcerda. This vessel 
is a monitor of small dimensions, carrying three guns, and is engined 
with only 60 "nominal" horse-power. 

If all accounts of the personnel of the Spanish navy be true, it is in 
no better condition to work the ships than the ships are to meet modern 
fighting-vessels in combat. 

The following list contains all the obtainable data of the armored 
ships of Spain: 



281 



282 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC, 



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THE DANISH NAVY 



The naval authorities of Denmark have been wise in avoiding the 
errors of other continental countries as to the materials of which their 
ships are composed. Not a wooden armored ship has been built since 
1864; and since 1868 vessels of all the other classes have been built 
of iron and steel. 

As may be seen from the following list, kindly furnished this year by 
Mr. Ravn, the assistant minister of marine, the Danish, fleet comprises 
seven armored ships, all built of iron except the original one. The Hel- 
goland, broadside-ship now building, will be the most powerful. Her 
length is 257 feet 5 inches, extreme breadth 59 feet 2 inches, displace- 
ment 5,265 tons, armor 12 inches thick on the water-line, and she is de- 
signed to carry one 12-inch, four 10-inch, and five 5-inch rifle-guns. 

In addition to the armored fleet, the Danish navy is possessed of three 
wooden screw-frigates of the old type, viz, the Jutland, Sjoelland, and 
Niels Juel ; the first named is 201 feet and the others are 195 feet 8 
inches between perpendiculars, with a breadth of 44 feet 3 inches, and 
displacement of 2,263 tons. Each mounts two 8-inch and twenty-four 
6-inch guns. There are also two screw-sloops and three screw brigs, 
wood-built. Besides these, there are fifteen iron screw gunboats, vary- 
ing in displacement from 547 tons to 140 tons. Two of the latter, the 
Absalon and Esbem Snare, are plated with iron 2£ inches in thickness ; 
some of these mount one 10-iucu and some two 5^-inch guns. 

There are also two transports, two yachts, one Thornycroft torpedo- 
boat, and one other boat converted for torpedo purposes. 

Armored sh'ys of Denmark. 





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283 



THE SWEDISH NAVY. 



The naval force of Sweden has been for a number of years divided into 
two branches, one comprising the navy proper, and the other known as 
the "coast artillery." 

The fleet consists of thirty-eight vessels, armed with about 325 guns. 
One ship, the Stockholm, of 2,850 tons and carrying sixty-six guns; one 
frigate, the Vanadis, of 2,130 tons and sixteen guns : four corvettes 
namely, the Balder, of 1,880 tons and six guns ; the Gefle, of 1,280 tons, 
and eight guns ; the Saga, of 1,530 tons and seven guns ; and the T/ior, 
of 1,070 tons and five guns; the Vanadis and Saga are under construction. 
Besides these, there are eighteen gunboats, carrying twenty-six guns. 
All the above named are screw-propeller vessels of moderate power and 
armament, the guns being rifled breech and muzzle loaders of 9, 5J, and 
4 inch caliber, and more powerful guns are devised. In addition to the 
above, twelve sailing-vessels belong to the fleet, viz, one ship, the STcan- 
dinavien, of 2,380 tons and sixty-two guns ; five corvettes and six brigs, 
carrying in all one hundred and twenty-nine guns. 

The coast artillery is considered the most important arm of defense - 7 
its total force is one hundred and twenty vessels of all kinds. This in- 
cludes the armored vessels, the four largest being counterparts of our 
Passaic class. In the above are included, also, the small turreted boats 
built from the designs of Captain Ericsson, and provided with machin- 
ery to be worked by hand, independently of steam; there are, also, 
forty-four sloop-rigged galleys, six mortar-launches, and fifty-three 
yawls. 

The headquarters of this force is at Stockholm, the island of Skepps- 
kolm being occupied as the repairing and outfitting yard. There is also 
another naval establishment at Carlscrona. 

The number of vessels employed on foreign service is limited to an 
extremely small force, generally to three or four. The personnel of the 
navy, as authorized by the law of 1870, was : Navy proper, officers, 88 ; 
petty officers, 181; seamen and others, 4,900. Coast artillery, officers, 
55; petty officers, 70;, seamen and others^ 2,500; total, 7,794. 



284 



THE NORWEGIAN NAVY. 



This small fleet is composed of four monitors, one frigate, two corvettes, 
one sloop, and twenty-two gun boats ; also, four sailing-vessels and two 
torpedo-boats. In addition to these, there are eighty-three small boats 
of various kinds, carrying from one to six guns each. 

Of the monitors, one, the Thor, has a displacement of 2,003 tons and 
an indicated horse-power of 600 5 a second, the Thrudnang, is of 1,575 tons 
and 500 indicated horse-power; a third, the Mjalner, is of 1,515 tons and 
450 indicated horse-power ; and the fourth, the Skarpianen, is of 1,447 
tons and 350 horse-po^er. Each of these monitors has an armament of 
three guns. 

The frigate, the Kang Suerre, has a displacement of 3,472 tons, an in- 
dicated horse-power of 1,500, and mounts fifty guns. Of the corvettes, 
one, the St. Olaf y has a displacement of 2,182 tons, an indicated horse- 
power of 1,100, and mounts thirty-eight guns ; and the other, the Nard- 
stjernen, 1,609 tons, 720 horse-power, and nineteen guns. The sloop is 
of 958 tons displacement, 250 horse-power, and sixteen guns. Of the 
gunboats, the Sleipner has a displacement of 580 tons, 800 indicated 
horse-power, and mounts two guns. The remainder are very small ves- 
sels, varying in displacement from 2S0 to 59 tons; four of them carry 
two guns and the rest one gun. 



285 



THE PORTUGUESE NAVY. 



The navy of Portugal is composed of one armored ship, nine screw- 
corvettes, seven gunboats, one sailing-frigate, one sailing-corvette, 
three transports, two tugs, and one yacht. The Ustephania, the largest 
of the corvettes, is under repairs at Lisbon, and of the other eight cor- 
vettes, three only are in commission. 

The armored ship Yasco da Gama was built at the Thames Iron-Ship- 
building Yard, London, and launched in 1876. Her length, according 
to Iron, is 215 feet llf inches, breadth 43 feet 3| inches, depth of hold 
25 feet, and displacement 2,479 tons. The octagonal turret is protected 
by armor 10 inches thick on teak backing of the same thickness, and 
the sides by armor 9 inches thick. She carries two Krupp guns 10| 
inches in caliber, one 6 inches in caliber, and two 40-pounders, and is 
furnished with a ram. Her cost is said to have been $519,400. 

The hull is constructed on the cellular system, with a double bottom, 
iron decks, water-tight bulkheads, and 47 compartments in all. She 
has three masts. 

The vertical engines by Messrs. Humphrys & Tennant operate twin 
screws ; on the trials they developed 3,625 horse-power, and the ship 
realized a speed of 13J knots per hour. In four minutes she made a com- 
plete circle 433 feet in diameter. 

The personnel of the navy consists of 579 officers on the active list, as 
follows: 1 vice-admiral, 6 rear-admirals, 16 captains, 25 commanders, 80 
lieutenants, 74 second lieutenants, 73 midshipmen, 7 engineer-construct- 
ors, 61 engineer officers, 38 pay officers, 24 officers of the medical depart- 
ment, 6 chaplains, and 168 officers of inferior rank. The enlisted men 
and boys number 3,189. 



'286 



THE BRAZILIAN ARMORED SHIP INDEPENDENCE. 



This report, as its title indicates, was intended to be confined to 
European ships, therefore the Brazilian fleet, South American and 
Asiatic ships, have not been described in whole; but as the above- 
named vessel came under my notice during its construction, and as it is 
the most formidable ship belongiug to any power not of Europe, and is 
a unique specimen of naval construction, containing many novelties, a 
brief notice is believed to be advisable. 

The Independeneia was designed in 1872, by Mr. E. J. Eeed, G. B., M. 
P., in accordance with conditions prescribed by a commission of Brazil- 
ian officers. The dimensions, draught of water, thickness of armor, size 
and number of guns, speed, sail-power, and other primary qualities were 
arranged by Mr. Reed in concert with this commission. At that time 
the British ship Devastation was being advanced toward completion in 
the dock-yard at Portsmouth, and was exciting great attention in other 
countries as well as in England, by reason of the enormous powers of 
offense and defense which were being developed. Her 12 and 14-inch 
armor on the hull and turrets, 2£ and 3-inch armor on the decks, and 
her 35-ton guns, constituted such an advance upon all the fighting-ships 
then built or building as caused her to be looked upon as the type to 
which first-class fighting-ships would, in the future, have to approxi- 
mate. The Brazilian officers desired a ship equally powerful, with the 
addition of sails. The Independeneia, as completed in 1877, is different 
in many respects from any other ship, but her typical features may be 
best described by calling her a rigged Devastation. She bears, however, 
a superficial resemblance to the unfortunate Captain, chiefly due to the 
upper works formed by the forecastle, hurricane-deck, and poop, and by 
her being full-rigged. 

The Independeneia is a two-turreted, breastwork ship of 9,000 tons 
displacement. The principal dimensions, &c, aie: Length between per- 
pendiculars, 300 feet; breadth, extreme, 63 feet; depth of hold, 16 feet 
6 inches ; mean draught of water, loaded, 24 feet 9 inches. The armor 
on the water-line is 12 inches thick, tapering to 10 and 9 inches below 
and above, constituting a belt 8 feet 6 inches broad, which extends 
forward and aft so as to completely surround the vessel. The central 
breastwork is 130 feet in length at the top of the belt, and extends to 
the upper deck, 11 feet above the water-line. This breastwork incloses 
the boiler and engine hatches, the scuttles to magazines and shell- 
rooms, the principal openings for ventilation, and the two turrets. 
There is one turret at each end of the breastwork. Over the breast- 
work and between the turrets is an erection somewhat similar to the 
hurricane-deck of the Devastation. It consists of a deck about one-half 
the breadth of the ship, extending from the fore turret to some distance 
abaft the after turret, this deck being supported by the casings of the 
boiler and engine hatches. Upon this deck is a rifle-proof house, con- 
taining the steering apparatus and appliances for navigating the ship, 
the boats, hammocks, steam- winch, ventilating-shafts, &c. There is 

287 



288 

also a poop and a forecastle, the hurricane deck amidships being nar- 
rowed abaft the breastwork and continued aft to the poop. Upon this 
continuation of the hurricane-deck are placed the standard compass and 
steering-wheel. The poop is fitted for mounting mitrailleuses, and 
ports are cut in the after corners of the hurricane-deck for fighting a 
9-pounder gun on each side. Under the poop are spacious apartments 
for the admiral and his staff, and cabins for other officers. The fore- 
castle is fitted for working the anchors, and has an armored bulk- 
head across the fore part, behind which are placed two 7-iuch guns. At 
the after end of the forecastle is an armored pilot-tower containing tele- 
graphs and voice-pipes to the engine-room, steering wheels, battery, &c, 
and from which the captain will work the ship in action. 

ARMAMENT. 

The armament, exclusive of the 9-pounder guns and mitrailleuses re- 
ferred to, consists of four 35-ton Whitworth guns, two in each turret, 
and two 7-inch guns forward. The guns are all made of the Whitworth 
compressed-when-fluid steel, and are rifled upon the hexagonal prin- 
ciple, so that the guns of this ship will possess the advantages of being 
able to fire very long shells containing large bursting-charges of powder, 
and also of penetrating the enemy's ship below water with flat-fronted 
projectiles. The presence of the poop and forecastle prevents a com- 
plete all-around fire, as in the Devastation, but the obstruction thus 
caused is limited to a few degrees from the fore-and-aft line, supposing 
the guns to be laid right ahead or right astern. These obstructions are 
necessarily caused by the determination to make the Independencia a 
full-rigged sailing ship. The manner in which this has been done, and 
the difficulties in the way of it removed or minimized, is one of the most 
notable features of the design. The foremast is just abaft the forecastle, 
and is worked from the breastwork-deck ; all fittings in connection with 
it, and all bitts and the lead of ropes being so arranged that in clearing 
for action they will all be out of the line of fire. The shrouds to the 
foremast and also to the mainmast will all be cleared away for action 
except two shrouds on each side of the mast, which are made larger 
than the rest and will remain fixed and take their chance of being shot 
away. The mainmast is between the boiler-hatch and after turret, and 
all ropes connected with it will ordinarily be worked on the breastwork- 
deck; but in clearing for action they will be raised upon the hurricane- 
deck, and can be worked there if required. The rigging of the mizzen 
mast is worked entirely from the poop. 

The ship is also fitted with hydraulic machinery for working and load- 
ing the guns, similar to what will be employed in the Italian ships Duilio 
and Dandolo. 

The motive machinery has been furnished by Messrs. John Peun & 
Sons. It was contracted for before the compound system of working 
steam had been fully established. The engines are of that firm's usual 
type of low-pressure trunk-engines, similar to those fitted in the British 
ship Sultan. There is a pair of cylinders 127 inches in diameter, with 
trunks 47 inches in diameter. The stroke of piston is 4 feet 6 inches. 
The guaranteed indicated horse-power is 8,500. There is also the usual 
number of engines as fitted to recently constructed armored ships, exclu- 
sive of the motive engines. 

The only full-rigged turret-ships built for the British navy are the 
Monarch and the Captain-, the former has proved to be a thoroughly safe 
and sea-going ship. The Independencia is 30 feet shorter than the Mon- 



THE BRAZILIAN ARMORED SHIP INDEPENDENCE 289 

arch and has 3 feet less free-board, but she has 5J feet more beam. In 
comparison with the unfortunate Captain, she is in many respects quite 
different; her armor is 3 and I inches thicker, and her guns are 35-ton 
against the Captain's 25-ton ; besides, she has 3 feet more free-board than 
the Captain was intended to have, and nearly twice as much as she actu- 
ally did have; in addition, she is 20 feet shorter and 10 feet broader; 
this extra breadth, combined with the free-board, is doubtless what is 
relied upon for giving that ample safety against capsizing which the Cap- 
tain, unfortunately, did not have; at any rate, these differences must 
give the Independencia very great stability and power to carry sail, as 
compared with the Captain. 

The long time the Independencia has been under construction is owing 
to an error in launching by which serious damage was done to the hull, 
requiring a great amount of work to be refitted. In consideration of 
this and the time that has elapsed since the ship was designed, during 
which interval such rapid advances have been made in the powers of 
offense and defense in ships of war, the Independencia is a very power- 
ful vessel. Her side and turret armor is only one inch thinner than the 
Devastation's, and her guns, although of the same weight, are worked by 
hydraulic power instead of hand, and they throw heavier projectiles 
ami have greater penetrating power. 

The official trials took place February 2 of this year. Six runs were 
made over the measured mile, with the following results: revolutions 
per minute, 70; indicated horse-power, 9,000; speed, II knots. 

Note. — Since the foregoing was written, this vessel has been purchased by the Brit- 
ish Government; she has therefore been placed upon the list of armored ships of Great 
Britain in this report under her new name, Neptune. 

19 k 



THE JAPANESE ARMORED SHIP FOO-SOO. 



Having described the most powerful ship of the Brazilian fleet, the 
last productions for the navy of Japan may also be noticed, since they 
embody some new features. 

The Foo-Soo is the first armored ship built in England for His Im- 
perial Majesty the Mikado of Japan. She was built at Poplar, on the 
Thames, by Messrs. Samuda Bros., from designs furnished by Mr. E. J. 
Keed, 0. B., M. P., and was launched April 14, 1877. 

She is a broadside-vessel with a central battery of somewhat similar 
type to those built in England nearly three years ago for the Chilian 
Government. She is bark-rigged, spreading 17,000 square feet of 
canvas, is handsome in appearance externally, and will, no doubt, be 
easily handled, the length being little more than four and a half times 
the beam, and the speed being high in porportion to her size. 

The principal dimensions and particulars are : 

Length between perpendiculars 220 feet. 

Breadth, extreme 43 feet. 

Depth in hold 20 feet 4£ inches. 

t^ „ ™-u+ ^ ,™+™ S forward 17 feet 9 inches. 

Draught of water j ftffc 18 feet 3 inches. 

Height of port from load water-line 7 feet 6 inches. 

Displacement 3, 718 tons. 

Indicated horse-power 3,500 

Speed, estimated. 13 knots. 

Complement of men and officers 250 

Armament : 

Main-deck battery, four 9^-inch guns. 

Upper- deck battery, two 6.7-inch guns to fire forward and aft. 

The annexed drawings of the midship section, main and upper decks, 
will convey a correct idea of the general design. 

The system of framing introduced in this vessel is said to be new. 
The frames behind the armor-plating aud below it, from the main deck 
down to the keel, were made continuous. By reference to the midship 
section, it will be noticed that the method of attaching the armor to the 
hull is by brackets outside the frames of the ship, thus allowing a clear 
line from floor to deck for the frame, and avoiding all the expensive and 
often unsatisfactory work of the armor-shelf as hitherto constructed. 
The ship has an inner bottom, divided by bulkheads into water-tight 
compartments in the usual way, and a central fore-and-aft bulkhead 
extending the length of the engine and boiler rooms and magazine. The 
armor is confined to a belt on the water-line 9 inches thick, and to the 
main-deck batteries, where it is 8 inches thick. The total weight of 
armor is 776 tons. 

The armament consists of Krupp guns of the dimensions given above; 
it will be seen that they are disposed on the central-battery system. 
The guns on the main deck, four in number, have a weight of about 15£ 
tons each, and, being fitted in embrasures, command the broadside and 
within 30 degrees of the fore and aft line. The guns on the upper deck 
weigh about 5 J tons each, and, commanding the horizon as they do, must 
be valuable as chasers. 
290 



JAPANESE ARMORED SHIPS. 291 

The motive machinery consists of two pairs of compound, horizontal, 
surface-condensing trunk-engines, designed and constructed by Messrs. 
Penn & Sons. The cylinders have diameters of 58 inches and 88 inches, 
with trunks 30 inches in diameter; the stroke of piston is 30 inches. 
The engines operate twin screw-propellers, 15 feet 6 inches in diameter 
and 16 feet in pitch, and the contract indicated horse-power is 3,500. 
The boilers, of the cylindrical type, are eight in number, each having a 
diameter of 11 feet 3 inches, and containing three furnaces 2 feet 11 
inches in diameter; the pressure of steam is 60 pounds per square inch. 

On the trial, with a draught of 17 feet 1 inch forward and 18 feet 1 
inch aft, and with an immersed midship section of 788 square feet and 
a displacement of 3,639 tons, the vessel steamed at full speed for three 
hours; six runs made upon the measured mile resulted in a mean speed 
of 13 knots per hour, with an indicated horse-power of 3,824, the num- 
ber of revolutions being from 93 to 91 per minute. 

THE JAPANESE ARMOR BELTED CORVETTES KONGO AND 

HI-YEI. 

These two vessels were built last year (1877) in England, and were 
also designed by Mr. E. J. Reed. The former, which is composite, was 
built at Hull by Eaiie's Engineering Works; the latter, which has an iron 
hull, at Pembroke, Wales, by the Milford Haven Company. The ma- 
chinery for both vessels was supplied by the first-named firm. Some of 
the principal data relating to the Eon Go are as follows: Length, 231 
feet ; extreme breadth, 40 feet 9 inches ; mean draught, 17 feet 6 inches. 

The leading feature of the design is that the armor-belt, 4J inches in 
thickness on the water-line, has been worked between the two wooden 
skins of the ship in the wake of the engines and boilers, and behind 
this armor-plate, and extending from it both to the bow and stern, a 
broader strake of thin irou plating was also worked and riveted to the 
iron frames of the ship, thus adding greatly to the strength both struc- 
turally and defensively. The armament consists of six Krupp guns on 
the broadside, having a caliber of 6 inches and weighing about 4 tons; 
and two guns at the bow, 6.7 inches in the bore, weighing about 54 tons, 
and capable of firing either right ahead or 32 degrees abaft the beam, 
and one 6.7-inch gun at the stern, capable of a range from right astern to 
35 degrees forward of the beam. The motive machinery consists of a 
pair of horizontal, compound, return-connecting-rod engines of 2,500 in- 
dicated horse-power. The cylinders have diameters of 60 inches and 99 
inches, and a stroke of 33 inches. The mean speed attained in six runs 
on the measured mile, December 7, 1877, was at the rate of 13j knots 
per hour, with 60.5 pounds pressure of steam per square inch, 82 to 87 
revolutions per minute, and a mean indicated horse-power of 2,450. The 
screw-propeller is fixed, not lifting, has a diameter of 16 feet and pitch 
of 17 feet 6 inches, and the free revolution of the screw when the vessel 
is under sail alone is provided for. The Kon-Go is regarded as a very 
beautiful vessel, being in appearance more like a yacht than a man-of- 
war. 

The Hi-Yei is built entirely of iron, and is in some respects a precise 
counterpart of the Kon-Go. A few of the most important data are: 
Length, 220 feet; extreme breadth, 48 feet; mean draught of water, 18 
feet; load displacement, 3,718 tons. The machinery and armament are 
the same for the two vessels. The Hi-Yei made ai/official trial Decem- 
ber 26, 1877. Four runs over the measured mile gave a meau of 2,490 
horse-power and 14 knots per hour. 



RESUME OF ARMORED SHIPS. 



As a summary of interesting facts relating to armored fleets, it may 
be stated that the grand total of all the European armored ships built 
from the commencement amounts in the aggregate to more than 
1,060,500 tons ; that the grand total of all the armored ships built and 
building for the British navy up to January, 1878, amounts in the aggre- 
gate to 340,000 tons, and the cost thereof, in round numbers, is given at 
considerably over eighteen million pounds sterling, or eighty-seven mil- 
lion four hundred thousand dollars in gold. 

According to numbers, and excluding the small craft, such as the bat- 
teries demontables of the French and the few floating batteries still 
remaining on the English and French lists from the Crimean war period, 
it appears, by reckoning in all the other classes, rigged and mastless, 
sea-going and coast-defenders, that twenty years' continuous effort and 
the expenditure of enormous sums of money have produced the follow- 
ing results : England heads the list with 64 vessels. France comes next 
with 53 vessels, having an aggregate tonnage of 184,000, including those 
now building. Russia is possessed of 29 ships, with a tonnage of 
89,500, among which are four sea-going ships. Italy can muster 18 ves- 
sels, of the aggregate tonnage of 94,000, and when the Duilio and Dan- 
dolo are completed will possess the two most powerful fighting-ships in 
the continental waters of Europe. Turkey, if possessed of little else, 
can show a fleet of 20 fighting-ships, with an aggregate tonnage of 
40,000. The German Empire has 17 vessels, eight of them sea-going, 
and the aggregate tonnage of all is 73,000. Holland possesses 23, Aus- 
tria 14, Spain 11, Denmark 7, Sweden 14, Norway 4, Portugal 1, and 
Greece 2. 

No European power claiming to have a navy is entirely without 
armored ships. The grand total of European armored ships, including 
those building, may at the present time be taken as 277 ; of which Eng- 
land possesses about one-fourth, France about one-fifth, Russia about 
one-eighth, and the remaining powers still smaller proportions. Cross- 
ing the ocean, it is found that Brazil has 17 armored vessels, Peru 6, 
Chili and the Argentine Confederation each 2 ; while in Asia, Japan 
boasts of 4 armored vessels (one of them the Stonewall Jackson of well- 
known fame), and, lastly, the Chinese have entered the field with armored 
gunboats. 

It is proper to add that neither the number of vessels, the number of 
guns carried, nor the total tonnage will convey correct ideas of the 
power and efficiency of the fleets. 

With a single exception, leaving out of account the skirmishes on the 
coast jof Spain during thelate civil warinthatcountry,noneof the numer- 
ous European armored ships have ever been engaged in mutual warfare. 
The exception is the short and ill-contested fight of one hour's duration at 
Lissa, between the Austriaus and Italians. The account of this battle 
published by Admiral Persano has shown that the Austrian fleet con- 
sisted of seven armored vessels and fifteen wooden frigates, and that the 
292 



1 



RESUME OF ARMORED SHIPS. 293 

Italian fleet consisted of twelve armored vessels and eight wooden ves- 
sels; that the Italian flag-ship Be cV Italia, a wooden iron-clad, was 
sunk by the ram of the Austrian flag-ship Ferdinand Max; that the 
Italian corvette Palestro was struck abaft in the un armored part by a 
shell, which set the vessel on fire and she blew up, all hands on board 
being lost. The sea was somewhat rough, and the Italians managed 
their ships and guns so unskillfully that but little damage was done to 
the Austrian ships : and although one of the Italian ships delivered two 
concentrated broadsides at one of the enemy's ships as she passed withiu 
40 yards, not oue shot struck. All, on both sides, were broadside-ships. 
This battle cauuot be quoted as decisive testimony of the value or weak- 
ness of armored ships, nor does it prove that future naval engagements 
will be mainly decided by ramming, for if any one will carefully read the 
account of the Fatti di Lissa he will perceive the extreme difficulty 
which was experienced by both Austrian and Italian captains in deliv- 
ering the fatal and decisive blow against a ship in motion. It was not 
until the rudder of the Be d'ltalia was disabled that the Austrian iron- 
clad was able to ram her. No lesson of value can therefore be drawn 
from this contest. 

An engagement of more recent date, but of quite a different character, 
which occurred in the Pacific off the Bay of Ylo, May 29, 1877, betweeu 
the British unarmored vessel Shah, assisted by the corvette Amethyst, 
and the Peruvian armored ship Huascar, may be mentioned as evidence 
of the indecisive action of the guns of unarmored ships against armor of 
even such a limited thickness as 3| inches. 

This action, if worthy to be called by that name, was brought about 
by very strange procedures on the part of the officers of the Huascar. The 
gist of the reports is as follows: During a revolution common to South 
American governments, the adherents of an insurgent leader — Nicolas de 
Pierola — persuaded the officers of the Huascar to rebel against the Peru- 
vian Government; and with their consent a number of these men seized the 
vessel in the harbor of Callao, under the cover of darkness, and put to 
sea, sailing to the southward. At Cobija, in Bolivia, Pierola embarked 
on the Huascar, which then steamed to the north with a view to effect 
a landing. Very shortly after this, the Shah, with Admiral de Horsey 
on board, arrived at Callao, and being informed of the above facts, also 
that depredations had been committed by the Huascar on British prop- 
erty and against British subjects, Admiral de Horsey made complaint 
to the Peruvian Government, and receiving in response a decree declar- 
ing the Huascar sl pirate, offering a reward for her capture, and repudiat- 
ing all responsibility on the part of Peru for acts committed by her, he 
determined to proceed against the Huascar with his flag-ship, the Shah, 
and the Amethyst Having put to sea for this purpose, he sighted the 
Huascar off' the town of Ylo on the afternoon of May 29, and summoned 
her to surrender. This summons the commanding officer refused to 
entertain ; the Shah then fired, first a blank cartridge, and then a shotted 
charge, but the Huascar still refusing to surrender, a steady and well- 
sustained fire from both the Shah and Amethyst was directed against her. 

The Shah is an iron, unarmored, single-screw frigate, sheathed with 
wood, 334 feet in length between perpendiculars, has a beam of 52 feet, 
a mean draught of 23 feet (21 feet forward and 25 feet aft), a displace- 
ment of 6,040 tons, and an indicated horse-power of 7,477. The arma- 
ment at the date of my visit on board, April, 1876, cousisted of two 18- 
ton guns, sixteen 6.J ton guns, and four 64 pounders, all rifles. The 
Amethyst is a wooden corvette, built in 1S73, is of 1,934 tons displace- 
ment, and 2,144 indicated horse-power, carryiug fourteen small guns. 



294 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC 



The Huascar is an armor-belted, single-screw, sea-going ram, built 
in England by Laird ; her length is 200 feet, mean draught 14 feet, free- 
board 5 feet. She is built of iron, and is divided into compartments by 
three transverse bulkheads. The armor on the hull is 4J inches thick, 
tapering to 2J at the bow and stern, and backed by 14 inches of teak. 
The single revolving turret is armored with plates 5J inches thick on 
teak 14 inches thick. The armament consists of two 300- pounder Arm- 
strong rifles in the turret, also two 44-pounders and one 12-pounder 
outside the turret. 

The fight was partly in chase and partly circular, the distance be- 
tween the combatants being for the greater part of the time from 1,500 
to 2,500 yards. The time employed in the engagement was about three 
hours, the fight being terminated by darkness coming on and the 
Huascar running close inshore, where the Shah could not follow conse- 
quent upon her greater draught. Of the projectiles thrown from the Eng- 
lish ships, it is reported that some seventy or eighty struck the iron-clad, 
principally about the upper deck, bridge, masts, and boats; one pro- 
jectile from the heavy gun pierced the side on the port quarter, two feet 
above water, where the armor was 2J or 3 inches thick, and brought up 
against the opposite side, killing one man and wounding auother ; two 
other heavy projectiles dented in the side armor to the extent of 3 inches. 
The turret was struck once by a projectile from the heavy guns of the 
Shah; it was a direct blow, but penetrated 3 inches only. The hull 
showed that several 04-pound shot had struck it, only leaving marks. 
When at close quarters, which the Huascar sought for the purpose of 
ramming, the Gatling gun in the Shah's foretop drove the men from the 
deck-guns of the former. On one of these occasions a Whitehead torpedo 
was launched at the iron-clad, but as she altered her course about the 
same instant, the torpedo failed to strike its mark. 

Excepting the damage done to the boats, smoke-pipe, casing, and 
wood-work, the Huascar was unharmed by three hours' cannonading 
from the heaviest guns carried by the most powerful unarmored ship in 
the British navy. The fact that a single shot entered the armored hull, 
only 3 inches thick, was doubtless owing to the accident of the full 
broadside being presented to the enemy at the instant when the gun 
was fired. 

The officers of the Peruvian ship, consequent upon her being manned 
by u a heterogeneous crowd of insurgents," managed their guns and 
worked their ship with so little skill that not a single shot from the 
300-pounder guns struck either of their antagonists, neither did any 
projectile from the smaller deck guns, except one which passed through 
the rigging of the Shah, carrying away some of the ropes. The Huascar 
frequently tried to ram the Shah, but in this attempt, too, failure was 
the result. It is true the Shah had the importaut advantages of much 
greater speed and two powerful long-range rifled guns. On these ad- 
vantages Admiral de Horsey doubtless counted when he decided on the 
attack, and after the action commenced he soon ascertained that the 
guns of the Huascar were being w 7 ildly handled. 

If the iron-clad had been manned with a properly-drilled crew and skill- 
ful officers, and had been in good working order, the contest at from 
1,500 to 2,500 yards ought to have resulted, apart from questions of 
right or law, in sinking both the English ships. 

The reasons given by Admiral de Horsey for his determination and 
subsequent action in this case are shown in his official report to the 
lords of the admiralty, as follows : 

1. The Eua8car, in boarding and detaining the John Elder at sea, in boarding and de" 
manding dispatches from the Santa Rosa, in forcibly taking coal from the Imnuncinat' 



RESUME OF ARMORED SHIPS. 295 

in forcibly taking a Peruvian officer out of the Colombia, and in forcibly compelling 
the engineer, a British subject, to serve against his will, committed acts which could 
not be tolerated. 

2. The Huascar having no lawful commission as a ship of war, and owing no alle- 
giance to any state, and the Peruvian Government having disclaimed all responsibility 
for her acts, no reclamation or satisfaction could be obtained [except] from that ship 
herself. 

3. That the status of the Huascar, previous to action with the Shah and Amethyst, 
was, if not that of a pirate, at least that of a rebel ship having committed piratical 
acts. 

4. That the status of the Huascar, after refusing to yield to my lawful authority, 
and after engaging Her Majesty's ships, was that of a pirate. 

5. That had the Huascar not been destroyed or captured, there would have remained 
no safety to British ships or property on this coast, not even to Her Majesty's ships, as 
the Huascar might have destroyed the Shah or the Amethyst, by ramming, any night at 
any port they were found. 

6. That I trust the lesson that has been taught to offenders against international 
law will prove beneficial to British interests for many years to come. 

7. That I have carefully abstained from any interference with the interests of the 
Peruvian Government, or those of the persons in armed rebellion against that govern- 
ment, my action in respect to the Huascar having been entirely for British interests. 

It may be seen from this engagement, as well as from previous ones, 
that the chances of a shot penetrating thick armor at sea are extremely 
remote, owing to the difficulty of striking it fairly, or at right angles. 
Too much stress is laid upon the results of artillery experiments as 
affecting actual warfare. Persons read of a projectile penetrating so 
many inches of solid iron, but do not bear in mind that this result is 
only obtained by such a combination of the most favorable conditions 
for the gun as could never occur in a battle at sea. Nor is it generally 
understood how very uncertain must be the practice from ships' guns 
in action, for the extreme precision of modern weapons depends alto- 
gether upon accuracy of range and steadiness of platform, and with, 
ships in rapid movement, as would be the case under present conditions 
of motive power, the distance and position would be rapidly changing 
every minute, while it rarely happens that ships are entirely free from 
wave motion. The engagements by ships against forts, in which the 
writer has participated, corroborate these views. 



zpjlir,t six 



TOBPEDO-WABFAEE. 

THE WHITEHEAD, HARVEY, AND SPAR TORPEDOES; THORNY' 

CROFT'S AND YARROW & CO.'S TORPEDO-BOATS; THE 

ZIETHEN; THE UHLAN; THE UZREEF; THE 

PIETRO MICCA; THE OBERON EXPERIMENT, 

AND DEFENSE AGAINST TORPEDOES. 



297 



TORPEDO-WARFARE, 



Torpedo-warfare has now attained to a recognized and important 
place in maritime contests. There is, however, in this, as is gener- 
ally the case in striking inventions, a tendency to exaggerate its impor- 
tance. Kecent experiments have somewhat tended to diminish the esti- 
mate previously set upon the power of submarine mines, and it has been 
shown in practice that care and precaution can do much to render them 
innocuous. There are so many items of detail, without close attention to 
which it is impossible to operate with them successfully, that, even in 
the quietly-conducted experiments of peace, failures occur without num- 
ber. Still the effect that can be depended upon is so considerable, that 
we must accept as proved the necessity for a more thoroughly scientific 
investigation of the problems relating to the subject. 

Two elements have contributed to make torpedo-warfare what it is — 
electricity and the new explosive compounds. It is true that in the 
Whitehead or fish torpedo recourse is had only to the latter of these, 
but it is the sole material exception, and all the work effected by this 
branch of marine warfare has been, so far, the result of electric torpe- 
does. 

The torpedoes used in the naval aud military services of different coun- 
tries are of various kinds. They maybe classed generally as stationary 
or defensive, and locomotive or offensive. The former are employed for 
the protection of harbors, channels, and roadsteads, being moored in 
selected positions at the bottom or below the surface of the water, and 
exploded by contact with vessels passing over them, or from the shore 
by means of an electric current through a wire. They vary infinitely 
in minor details, but a general similarity is to be noticed in all. The 
latter, in the shape of movable torpedoes, carried to the attack by swift- 
moving steam-launches, or by self-contained power within, are employed 
for offensive work. 

In England they use, as a rule, compressed gun-cotton in their ma- 
chines, while on the continent they seem to entertain a predilection for 
nitro-glycerine, or rather dynamite. Both substances are what chemists 
term nitro-compounds, in contradistinction to gunpowder, which comes 
under the class of nitrate-compounds, and they appear to exercise an ex- 
plosive force of almost similar violence, measuring the substances weight 
for weight. Compressed gun-cotton, it need scarcely be said, is cotton 
yarn acted upon by nitric and sulphuric acids and then pulped and 
washed, so that the result is a finely divided mass which may be made 
to assume any shape.* The material is generally pressed into cakes 
of disk-like form, which weigh from a few ounces to a pound or more, 
and, while still moist, the slabs are stored away in magazines. In this 
moist condition the compressed pulp is not only non-explosive, but actu- 
ally non-inflammable, unless one possesses the key to its detonation. 

* For a description of the mauufacture of gun-cotton at the factory of Waltham 
Abbey, which has a capacity to turn out 4,000 pounds per day, see the report of Colonel 
Laidley, U. S. A., ordnance document, 18/7. 

299 



300 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

This is nothing more than a dry cake of the same material, or, as it is 
termed in military parlance, a " primer," which, on being detonated by 
a few grains of fulminate, brings about the explosion of any gun-cotton 
in its immediate neighborhood even though it be moist. Thus, if sim- 
ply a net is filled with gun-cotton slabs and thrown into the water, the 
whole charge may be ignited by a primer contained in a water-proof bag, 
having an electric fuse and wire attached and placed in the interior of 
the mass. 

Dynamite, as is well known, is a mixture of nitroglycerine and sand, 
or it may be described as siliceous earth impregnated with explosive 
fluid, and owing to the chemical action continually going on within it, 
it needs to be reworked about every three years ; if this is not done the 
parts become chemically separated. The Swedish engineer, Mr. Nobel, 
who was also the first to manufacture true nitroglycerine on a large 
scale, manufactures dynamite by mixing together nitro-glycerine and 
silica ; it fuses at a temperature of about 150° Fahrenheit. This descrip- 
tion of dynamite is largely used in the Swedish service, where it is looked 
upon with more favor than even gun cotton. 

Gun-cotton and dynamite explode with much greater force than gun- 
powder, and for this reason a very destructive charge may be confined 
within a comparatively small space; moreover, they are particularly 
adapted to submarine mines, since nitroglycerine is no more affected by 
water than is gun cotton. 

TOEPEDOES FOE OFFENSIVE OPEEATIOXS. 

Three principal varieties of these are employed in European navies — 
the Whitehead, the Harvey, and the spar torpedo.* 

The principal features of construction of the Whiteheacl-Luppis fish- 
torpedo are unknown to the public, for its mechanism has been suc- 
cessfully kept a secret since its first introduction to notice. Each of the 
several European governments which have purchased the secret ap- 
pointed a small number of officers to be put in possession of a complete 
set of drawings furnished with the weapons, and they are bound on 
honor not to reveal their workings. 

Many notices have appeared from time to time, purporting to be 
descriptions of this remarkable invention, the most widely known and 
generally adopted of any of the instruments in the field of movable 
torpedoes. None of them can be regarded as entirely accurate j still, for 
general information, it may be said that the Whitehead torpedo is an 
explosive submarine boat. It is made of different sizes, from 14 to 19 
feet in length and from 13 to 16 inches in diameter in the center. It 
is constructed of the very best thin steel plate, and of the cigar shape 
common to many of these implements of destruction. It is divided into 
compartments internally. The anterior portion, or nose, contains a 
bursting-charge of gun-cotton or dynamite, together with the fuse and 
detonating apparatus, which is arranged to explode on contact, by 
forcing a pin into a cap of fulminate; this compartment is made sepa- 
rately and secured to the main body when desired. The tail or poste- 
rior portion of the torpedo, as most authorities state, contains a set of 
small three-cylinder engines of the Brotherhood type, and they drive 
the screw-propeller which forms the organ of propulsion. Such deli- 

* Two lectures, the one on movable torpedoes in general, and the other on the White- 
head torpedo, delivered at Newport, R. I., December, 1874, by Lient. F. M. Barber, U. 
S. N M are remarkable for the information contained therein, and as showing careful 
research of past records on the subject of submarine warfare. 









TORPEDO-WARFARE. 301 

cacy in materials and workmanship has been attained in the manufac- 
ture of this machinery, which is operated by compressed air, that the 
three little working cylinders, exerting a force of 40 indicated horses, 
do not weigh, according to Mr. Donaldson, Mr. Thornycroft's manager, 
more than thirty-five pounds. The central portion or chamber contains 
the air for actuating the engines. This chamber constitutes nearly the 
whole rear half of the implement, and its strength must be very great 
to withstand the pressure of the air, which is compressed by pumps 
worked by steam-power to a tension, it is reported, of about 1,000 
pounds to the square inch, or upward of sixty and a half atmospheres. 

There is a horizontal rudder or external mechanism capable of regu- 
lating and maintaining the depth under water at which the torpedo is 
intended to travel, and also for keeping it in a straight line or seuding 
it on any curve which may be desired, taking into account currents 
and eddies. 

There is also an apparatus intended to throw the detonating arrange- 
ment out of gear, in case of the failure of the torpedo to strike the ob- 
ject at which it is aimed, so that the instrument shall either sink to the 
bottom or float, so as, in the latter case, to be regained without danger. 

It is obvious that the speed of the torpedo will diminish as the press- 
ure of the air in the reservoir diminishes by the working of the engine. 
Thus it will travel more rapidly for a short distance than for a longer 
one. It is stated by Mr. Donaldson that for 220 yards the velocity 
attainable is at the great rate of 24 miles per hour, and that 1,000 yards 
cau be accomplished at the rate of 16 miles, or 4,000 yards at 5 miles, 
per hour, the speed being least at the end of the journey. At the speed 
of 10 knots the transit through 1,000 yards would occupy about two 
minutes, or, more exactly, one minute and fifty- two seconds. As to the 
effect of the blow there can be little question, if the fuse is perfectly in- 
stantaneous in action, so as to insure explosion at the moment of con- 
tact. Minute portions of time are here of the utmost importance, as, if 
the weapon recoils before exploding, the effect is prodigiously diminished. 
This is the main objection to the use of chemical acid fuses, the action 
of which is slow enough to allow of sensible recoil between impact and 
explosion. 

The only instances of the employment of the fish-torpedo in war, which 
have occurred up to the time of writing, have been failures. A White- 
head torpedo was discharged by the Shah at the Ruascar, when the latter 
vessel was passing the former at no great distance, but failed to strike 
the mark. The second failure, reported by the naval correspondent of 
the London Times, was the attempt by the Russians, on the night of the 
20th of December last, to destroy by means of Whitehead torpedoes 
one or more of the ships of the eastern division of the Turkish Black Sea 
squadron, then lying in the harbor of Batoum, and consisting of three ar- 
mored and three wooden vessels. The A vnilllah, an armored corvette, was 
lying moored to a buoy in the center of the harbor, unprotected by spars 
or guard-boats, and from this circumstance was chosen as the object of 
attack. The torpedoes having been towed to a convenient position by 
boats, and pointed in the direction of the Turkish ship, the air-valves 
were opened and the machines started upon their mission, but without 
success. The escape of the ship, however, was due not to the precautions 
adopted for her safety, nor to the vigilance exercised by the officers on 
board, but to the precipitancy with which the attack was made by per- 
sons not thoroughly acquainted with their work. In the morning two 
torpedoes were picked up, one floating on the water with the nose con- 
taining the explosive material gone, and the other lying stranded on 



302 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WARj ETC. 

shore. The latter was intact, the nose still loaded with the gun-cotton 
charge, some thirty pounds. This torpedo was carefully unloaded by un- 
screwing the magazine section, and, as it was in all respects perfect, 
Mr. Whitehead's secret is now in possession of the Turks without their 
having paid for it. Although the Russians have been in possession 
of this machine during the war, we have no account of its successful use 
by them.* 

The German Government have not realized the results in their experi- 
ments which they anticipated, and the practical test made by the Eng- 
lish from the armored ship Temeraire have been reported as follows: 

November 14 was devoted to a practical test of the torpedo-fittings, aud to a series 
of experiments with the Whitehead torpedo. Two shots were fired from the starboard 
and two from the port broadside, while the ship was steaming at the rates of 5+ and 
8+ knots per hour, the mark aimed at being a man-of-war's cutter, stationed at a dis- 
tance of ab out 320 yards. The projectiles in both instances passed within a few feet 
of the object, and the result was considered satisfactory. But the shots subsequently 
fired from the bow tubes were far otherwise, notwithstanding that the sea was smooth 
and the ship going only 5-J or C knots. As soon as the torpedoes entered the water and 
felt the impulse of their own engines they deliberately crossed the ship's bow, and 
went off on the port tack at a speed of 12 knots. 

This seems to be the natural consequence of the action of the water 
as it is pushed forward by the vessel, and confirms previous experiments, 
that these projectiles, when fired from the bow of the ship in motion, are 
exceedingly erratic, and that when so ejected little dependence can be 
placed on them. If it could be rendered practicable so to control the 
path of a locomotive torpedo as to allow of a modification of its course, 
under the direction of an observer on shore, or at a safe distance from 
the point of attack, the torpedo would be raised to the rank of an irre- 
sistible weapon of offense. 

England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Eussia have purchased 
the right to use this torpedo. The first-named government has paid, it is 
reported, about $72,300 for the privilege of its use, with examples and 
drawings. Besides which, about two hundred of these weapons are said 
to have been purchased when the Turko-Russian war commenced, at the 
cost of $2,430 each, and a large number subsequently. The improvement 
and development of the instrument and system of working it are objects 
of continued study and experiment by the English at the royal arsenal, 
Woolwich, and in the river Med way ; also at the special school for tor- 
pedo instruction on board the Vernon at Portsmouth ; by the French at 
the mouth of the Oharente, and at Boyardville, where officers are in- 
structed in the science of electricity and explosives ; by the Italians at 
Venice ; by the Austrians at Fiume, where Mr. Whitehead has his fac- 
tory ; by the Germans at Wilhelmshafen and Kiel ; and, finally, a dis- 
tinct torpedo service has been organized by the Russians at Kertch and 
Cronstadt, where torpedo appliances are to be used for the defense of 
the Black and the Baltic Seas t 

* Since writing the above paragraph the following has been received : 
"an ottoman steamer blown up. 

" St. Petersburg, Wednesday, January 30, 1878. 

"The commauder of the Russian steamer Constantine reports that he left Sebastopol 
for a cruise on the 22d instant. He approached Batoum on the 26th, where there were 
seven Turkish vessels. The Constantine sent a Whitehead torpedo agaiust a screw- 
steamer which was on guard outside, and sauk her immediately. The crew were all 
drowned. The Constantine has returned to Sebastopol." 

t The most successful automatic or self-propelling torpedo tested in the United States 
is the one invented by Mr. John L. Lay, late an engineer officer, United States Navy. 
A specimen of this torpedo was shown at the Centennial Exhibition. It was made of 






TORPEDO-WARFARE. 303 

THE HARVEY SEA-TORPEDO. 

The principle of Captain Harvey's torpedo is by no means new, it 
having been designed from a wooden float, called an u otter," a contriv- 
ance extensively used by poachers in Scotland for the purpose of con- 
veying their lines out into mid-stream, thereby enabling them to dis- 
pense with the use of long fishing-rods. This torpedo has been adopted 
in the British service, also into a number of the navies of continental 
Europe. It is intended to be used at sea by ships engaged with other 
ships, and it is so shaped and so slung that when towed from a vessel 
in motion it diverges from her path and thus enables her to pass by an 
opponent at a certain distance from her and yet near enough to bring 
the instrument into sharp contact with some point of her submerged 
hull. Two kinds of these torpedoes are served out to each ship, though 
they differ only as regards the position of their respective planes, so 
that they may diverge, the one to port, the other to starboard. 

Each torpedo consists of an external case of well- seasoned elm, about 1£ inches in 
thickness, screwed together, with water-tight packing between the joints and bound 
with iron, the interior being usually cemented with pitch. * * * The inner case is 
constructed of stout sheet-copper carefully soldered at the joints, and provided with 
a cylindrical tube running through the center, into which is fitted the exploding-bolt 
and priming-charge ; it has also two circular ports about 3£ inches in diameter, one 
on either side of the bolt, for charging the torpedo. These ports are rendered water- 
tight by means of screw-caps forced firmly down on to suitable water-tight packing. 
The priming-case is made of stout sheet-copper, and contains a large bursting-charge 
of rifle-grained powder on gun-cotton disks. 

In the center of the priming chamber or cylinder is a brass tube in which the ex- 
ploding-bolt works, and at the bottom of this tube is a steel-pointed anvil which, when 
the bolt is forced down, pierces the capsule and, striking the muzzle, ignites the de- 
tonating compound, and, through the bursting-charge, the main charge itself. At the 
side of the brass tube, and near the base of the pin, is a small hole covered with thin 
brass foil which will allow of an escape of water into the priming-case should any 
have collected at the bottom of the tube. The priming-case is charged from the bottom 
on the same principle as the loading-ports for the main charge, a box-spanner being 
employed for sere wing in the caps. The priming-chamber maybe charged separate 
from this if preferred, but this precaution is quite unnecessary, unless the explosive 
used be a dangerous one, in which case it would, of course, be impossible to be too 
careful. * * * 

Descriptions of the Harvey torpedo have been widely published, per- 
haps the most complete, with illustrations, being in Engineering, Novem- 
ber 23, 1877. 

Various modes of attack with this instrument are proposed, but it 
would seem that the only case in which it is likely to be used with suc- 
cess is in a night attack on a vessel at anchor by a fast steam-launch, 
running across the bow or by the quarter, launching the torpedo between 
the moorings in passing, and leaving the tow-rope slack until the launch 
is a sufficient distance off, checking the passing out of the tow-rope by 

boiler-iron ; was shaped like a spindle, 28 feet 3 inches in length, and was divided into 
four compartments. The front end, technically called the nose, contains the explosive 
material, viz, about 300 pounds of powder and 75 pounds of dynamite. The motive 
power, which consists of carbonic-acid gas generated in the usual way, is conducted 
from the generating apparatus, through iron tubes, to the engine, which is in the fourth 
section, aud which operates the screw-propeller. The initial pressure is about forty 
atmospheres. The third or middle section contains a roll of two or more miles of in- 
sulated wire which is paid out from the torpedo itself, and serves to keep up electrical 
connection with the firing station. The torpedo is submerged to about four-fifths of 
its' volume. Its maximum speed claimed is 10£ knots, but it seems from the Newport 
experiment that 7 knots only were attained. The instrument is entirely under the 
control of the electrician, who, by means of a series of contacts, opens or closes the 
commuuicatiug valves, and thus increases or diminishes the speed, and stops or starts 
the torpedo as required. It may be tired either by contact or by closing the electric 
circuit. Its position is always kept in view by a rod projecting from its upper surface. 



304 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

means of the brakes provided for the purpose, causing thereby the tor- 
pedo to diverge into contact with the vessel attacked, and by so doing 
explode the mine and destroy the ship. 

When the torpedo is launched on its mission, very much of the prob- 
able success of that mission depends on the man in charge of the brake; 
indeed, skill and precision are necessary for its management, and al- 
though Captain Harvey has used it successfully in many and varied 
experiments, the results, when intrusted to hands less practiced in its- 
manipulation, would probably be different, especially in actual warfare, 
when contingencies would arise requiring skill, courage, and good 
judgment. 

The spar-torpedo is simply a copper case, in which are contained ex- 
plosives, carried at the end of a spar or pole projecting from a boat, the 
latter being rowed or steamed to the object, and the torpedo discharged 
either by concussion or electricity. This type of torpedo will be noticed 
presently. 

TORPEDO-BOATS. 

The question of how best to use torpedoes in offensive marine war- 
fare has received considerable attention and study in Europe during 
the last few years. Spar-torpedo launches adapted to the purpose have 
been extensively introduced into the service of all European navies. 

Messrs. Thornycroft & Co., whose building-yard is at Chiswick, on 
the Thames, above London, have attained distinction as the builders of 
these miniature war-vessels. The famous river-launch Miranda, built 
by this firm in 1871, and which in the spring of 1872 attained the 
astonishing speed, on the measured mile, of nearly 16J knots per hour, 
though less thau 50 feet in length, was apparently the prototype of the 
modern fast torpedo-launch. She was built of thin steel plates, and 
fitted as lightly as possible, engiued to the utmost, and was conspic- 
uous iu every detail for that perfection in design and workmanship 
which is never absent from the work of those who achieve, in new 
fields, rapid and complete success. 

The speed of the Miranda seemed to offer just what' was needed, and 
continental governments were not slow to recognize such apparent 
advantages. In 1873 the Norwegian naval authorities gave Messrs. 
Thornycroft & Co. their first order.* 

THE NORWEGIAN TORPEDO-LAUNCH. 

This boat was 57 feet in length, 7 feet ^6 inches in the beam, drew 3 feet of water, 
and the stipulated speed was 16 English statute miles, or nearly 14 knots, per hour, 
which speed was not to be ascertained by a mere measured-mile trial, but was to be 
16 miles through the water in a run of one hour's duration. The hull of the vessel 
was constructed entirely of steel plates and angle-bars, and was divided into six water- 
tight compartments. The compartments in the extreme stem and stern were for stores, 
those next adjoining were fitted with seats for the crew, and were provided with mov- 
able steel covers, so that, on going into action or during rough weather, they might be 
completely covered. 

The compartments amidships were for the steersman and the machinery, aud were 
covered completely by steel plating -^ inch in thickness. * * * 

The compartment for the steersman was furr ished with a hood, having slits ^-inch 
wide all round, through which he could see with sufficient distinctness to direct his 
course easily. Motion was communicated from the wheel to the tiller by means of steel- 
wire ropes, which it was originally intended should be incased iu wrought-iron tubes. 
The possibility, however, of these tubes being bent by a shot and so jamming the wire 
ropes led to this arrangement being abandoned, and the ropes were simply run through 
eyes at intervals aloug the side. 

* The descriptions of Thornycroft's boats are from a paper by Mr. Donaldson, read 
before the Royal United Service Institution. 



TORPEDO- VVAKFA RE. 305 

The engines were compound, of the usual inverted double-cylinder direct-acting 
type, capable of developing about 90 indicated horse-power, and were fitted with a 
■surface-condenser, so thac the vessel could run in salt water without danger of injuring 
her boiler. A small tauk contained a supply of fresh water, to make good deficiencies 
arising through leakage, and from steam escaping at the safety-valve, &c. The circu- 
lating, air, and feed pumps were driven by a separate engine. The boiler was of the 
locomotive type, the shell being made of Bessemer steel, the fire-box and its stays of cop- 
per, and the tubes of solid drawn brass. 

The armament consisted of a cylindro-conical shaped torpedo towed from the top 
of the funnel, round which a ring was fitted with two pulleys for the towing-ropes, 
the strain being taken off by means of two stays attached forward. The length of this 
torpedo was 13 feet, and the diameter 9 inches, and with a speed of 11 knots it has 
diverged to about 40 degrees from the direction of the boat's motion when running in 
smooth water. The torpedo is worked by means of a small winch and brake fixed on 
the after part of the engine-room skylight ; davits are provided for dropping the tor- 
pedo overboard. 

On the official trial, which took place on the Thames on the 17th of October, 1873, 
the number of revolutions done in the hour was found to be 27,177, and the number 
required to do a mile in still water was 1,578. The distance run in the hour was then 
^ftW — 17.22, or very nearly 17^ miles. The steam-pressure during the trial averaged 
85 pounds per square inch, and the vacuum 254 inches. 

The Government of Norway in some eight years has expended for tor- 
pedoes and experiments with them more than a million of marks, or, on 
an average, nearly $28,000 annually. In the yearly experiments at 
Drobak, near Ohristiania, all officers and snbofficers of the navy, as 
well as some of the army, take part; aud besides these, the Norwegian 
authorities have made other experiments at Garlscrona, in conjunction 
with the Governments of Sweden and Denmark. 

Boats which I inspected at Mr. Thornycroft's yard in 1876, of the same 
size and similar in all particulars, excepting the engines, to the one de- 
scribed above, were made for the Swedish, and Danish Governments. 
In these there was an increase of speed to 17.27 miles in the case of the 
Swedish boat, and to 18.06 miles, or 15§ knots, in the case of the Dan- 
ish vessel. 

There is no information regarding the armament of the Swedish boat, 
but the Danish boat was armed with two spindle-shaped torpedoes 12 
feet long and 11J inches in diameter, somewhat like the Whitehead tor- 
pedo externally. They were placed on deck longitudinally, near the fun- 
nel, so as to facilitate launching, and were arranged to be towed from an 
upright pole 8 feet high, placed about 6 feet from the stem. A small 
winch was fixed on either side aft, to pay out the towing-line and to 
bring back the torpedo. By these arrangements the torpedo could 
be projected at a large angle from the direction of the boat's motion and 
at considerable velocity. The speed of the boat when towing one of 
these torpedoes is about 10 knots. 

The Norwegian launch proved to have very fair sea-going qualities, 
as was proved by her voyage from Gotheburg to Horten, Norway, a 
distance of 150 nautical miles. 

The cost of two Norwegian boats was $8,748 and $16,524, gold. 

AUSTRIAN TORPEDO LAUNCH. 

The boat built for the Austrian Government was of the same general 
design, but of larger dimensions, the leugth being 67 feet, breadth 8 feet 
Cinches, and draught of water 4 feet 3 inches. This boat was built of 
somewhat thicker plating than the 57-foot type, and the guaranteed 
speed was 15 knots in a run of one hour's duration. The speed trials 
took place on the 11th of September, 1875, when 24,700 revolutions in 
one hour's run on the Thames were attained. The number of revolu- 
20 k 



306 EUROPEAN SIIIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

tions required to the knot in still water was found to be 1,357, making 
the distance run in an hour 18.202 knots, or 3.202 knots over the contract 
speed. During the run the steam- pressure averaged 105 pounds per 
square inch and the vacuum 25J inches.* 

The boat was divided into six water-tight compartments, and it dif- 
fered from the Scandinavian boats in having the spaces forward and aft 
of the machinery permanently decked, instead of being covered with 
movable steel covers only. The following is from an English journal: 

The machinery was somewhat similar to that in the Scandinavian boats, excepting 
that the engines were capable of developing 200 indicated horse-power, and that the 
air was supplied to the furnace by being forced into an air-tight stoke-hole instead of 
being forced directly under the fire-grate. 

The armament of these vessels consisted of two torpedoes attached to the end of 
wooden poles, 4£ inches in diameter and about 43 feet long, connected to the battery by 
insulated wires, and arranged to be fired either by coming in contact with the enemy's 
vessel or at any distance from it, at the will of the operator. 

The torpedoes themselves were simply copper cases, * * * and of sufficient size, 
in the case of the Austrian boat, to contain 11,000 cubic centimeters of explosive, and 
in the case of the French boats, to contain 25 kilograms of dynamite. At one end is the 
socket for the pole, and at the other the contact arrangement, which consists of a 
metallic plate capable of being pressed against the ends of the studs to which the wires 
are attached. This plate and its connections are covered by an India-rubber cap, so 
as to render the cases water-tight. 

In the middle of the case is the aperture for charging the torpedo. This is a hole 
3£ inches in diameter, into which, when the torpedo is filled, is screwed the cap F. The 
wires are introduced by the aperture C, fitted with a screw-gland, so as to prevent the 
ingress of water. 

The battery is a modification of Smee's well-known single-acid battery, and consists 
of six cells, fitted with platinized silver and zinc plates, which, in order to prevent 
unnecessary oxidation, may be lifted and kept clear of the acid by means of the roller X. 

The fuse * * * consists of two strong copper wires, kept aprrt by means of a 
non conducting composition and connected by a very fine platinum wire, imbedded in 
fulminate of mercury, which is protected by a tinfoil casing. These fuses are used 
with a detonator, a long copper cap half-filled with fulminate of mercury. The con- 
necting-wires are arranged in the neat and effective way patented by Captain McEvoy, 
of the London Ordnance Works, by means of which, with only three wires, the torpedo 
may be made to explode either on contact with the enemy's vessel, or by means of a 
firing-key, at the will of the operator. This arrangement is shown in the accompany- 
ing diagram. D 1 and D 2 are the wires leading from the poles of the battery to the 
torpedo. The fuse is inserted in the wire D 2 at a point within the torpedo-case, so 
that, when the case is charged, the fuse is entirely surrounded by the explosive. The 
connecting- wire D 1 is attached to the wire D near the battery, and to the wire D 2 at a 
point between the fuse and the stud to which that wire is attached in the torpedo- 
case. A firing-key is inserted in the wire D 1 at E 1 , and a contact-breaker in the wire 
D at E 2 . 

The firing-key is simply an apparatus for connecting the two ends of the wire 
quickly. It consists of two pieces of vulcanite, through each of which the wire is led 
and fastened over the end. These pieces are kept together by means of a vulcanite 
nut, and a spring keeps the ends of the wire apart until pressure is applied. 

The contact-breaker is similar to the firing-key, but there is no spring in it, and the 
two parts may be screwed backward and forward, so as to separate or connect the 
wires when required. 

The object of having the contact-breaker in the circuit is to prevent the torpedo 
from being exploded by contact with the enemy's vessel, and so to place the control of 
the explosive entirely in the hands of the operator. If it is in use, it will be seen that 
no current can pass through the wire D, and that it is only possible to fire the torpedo 
by pressing the firing-key and sending a current through the wires Di D 2 . Should it 
be desired to fire by contact, the contact-breaker is screwed up, so that the wire I) may 

* The boats built by Mr. Thornycioft are driven by screw-propellers of his own inven- 
tion. They are generally three-bladed, with the driving-faces of the blades slightly 
concave and the opposite faces convex. In his letters patent granted in the United 
States 24th of August, 1875, he says : " I claim as my invention : 1st. A propeller, the 
blades of which are projected rearward from the hub, said rearward projection being 
most prominent nearest the hub and decreasing toward the tips of the blades ; 2d. A 
propeller, the blades of which have an increasing pitch and are projected rearward 
from the hub, said rearward projection being most prominent nearest the hub and de- 
creasing toward the tips of the blades." 






TORPEDO- WARFARE. 307 

be put in circuit; a current is then possible through the wires D and D 2 as soon as the 
circuit is completed by the contact-plate being pressed against the studs. 

However effected, whether by the firing-key, or by contact with the enemy's vessel, 
as soon as a strong current passes through the fuse the small platinum wire is heated 
to redness, and the fulminate of mercury exploded ; this explodes the detonator, and 
with it the charge of the torpedo, the force of the explosion finding its way along the 
nearest path to the air, which path, if the torpedo is sufficiently close, is through 
the enemy's ship. 

The arrangement for working the torpedo-poles is shown in the diagram, and con- 
sists of two tubes riveted together at right angles so as to form something like the 
letter T. The torpedo-pole is put through the horizontal tube, which is free to move 
round the center of the vertical tube, and the vertical tube is free to move through a 
quarter-circle at right angles to the center line of the vessel. 

In attacking in front, the vertical tube is laid over till it is parallel with the 
water-surface, and the horizontal tube is allowed to incline sufficiently far to allow of 
the end of the pole, when run out, to be depressed from 8 to 10 feet below the water- 
line. It is held in this position by a pair of blocks attached to the top of the short 
mast. 

In attacking on the broadside, the vertical tube is laid over till it assumes a position 
such as to allow of the pole when swung round to touch an enemy's vessel at about 8 
or 10 feet below the water-line. 

FRENCH TORPEDO-LAUNCHES. 

Eight torpedo-boats have been built by Messrs. Thornycroft & Co. 
for the French Government. The first two were of the same dimensions 
as the one last described, but more powerful, the indicated horse-power 
being 200, and the speed 18 knots. The armament as at first fitted was 
the same, except that the copper torpedo-cases were charged with 55 
pounds of dynamite instead of the 670 cubic inches of explosive used in 
the Austrian boat ; but after the vessels reached Cherbourg they were 
altered so as to attack in front only, as the French officers found that 
these small vessels were better adapted for resisting the effects of an 
explosive at the bow than at any other part. 

The arrangement consisted of a steel pole, about 40 feet in length, 
having one end about 6 inches in diameter and solid, and the other 
about 1J inches in diameter and hollow; this pole was mounted at its 
solid end on small pulleys, which ran upon two ropes stretched fore and 
aft of the vessel ; the other end, to which the torpedo was attached, was 
led over a pulley fixed ou the bow. Eopes passing over pulleys to a 
windlass in the after compartment were attached to the inboard end, 
and by turning the windlass the pole was drawn backward or forward 
as required. When the pole was drawn forward, the inboard end being- 
constrained to move in a line parallel to the deck, the outer end was de- 
pressed in the water, and was so adjusted that when the pole was run 
out to its full extremity the torpedo was depressed to about 8 J feet 
below the water-level. The arrangements for firing were similar to 
those described. 

The speed trials were made in the roadstead off Cherbourg. The total 
revolutions in two hours were 49,818, and the number required to the 
knot in still water was found to be 1,382, so that the distance ruu in 
two hours was 3G.05 knots. Daring the run the pressure of steam was 
kept at 108 pounds and the vacuum 25 inches. 

These two boats made the passage boldly from the Thames to Cher- 
bourg without hugging the coast, and thus proved their efficiency as 
sea-boats. 

In February and March, 1877, some experiments were made off Cher- 
bourg with these boats, which have attracted a great deal of attention. 
The Bayonnaise, an old wooden frigate, which had been damaged by one of 
the earlier experiments, and on this occasion kept afloat by empty casks, 
was towed by another vessel at a speed of about six knots per hour, 



308 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

and was attacked by oiie of the torpedo-boats. No attempts at defense 
being tried, a hole was made in the Bayonnaise large enough to admit 
a whale ; a result not at all surprising, nor calculated to teach anything 
not known many years previously, but from its sensational character it 
attracted considerable attention from the public press. The torpedo 
used contained 33 pounds of damp gun cotton, and was fired 8J feet 
below the surface of the water, at the end of a steel pole 40 feet long. 
The real interest of the experiment and the point it was intended to 
throw light upon was the effect of the explosion upon the attacking 
boat. The accounts published at the time were absurdly exaggerated. 

Six more vessels of a different size and type were built for the French 
in 1877. These vessels are 87 feet long, 10 feet 6 inches in beam ; the 
plating is heavier than in any boats previously built, and the contract 
speed is 18 knots per hour in a run of three consecutive hours. 

The propeller is placed forward of the rudder instead of aft as in other 
Thornycroft boats, so as to give increased readiness in steering. With 
the view to prevent oxidation of the hulls, the plates and frames below 
the water-line are galvanized. 

The cost of these larger boats was $26,730. Their armament may 
consist of an outrigger arrangement similar to that described, or they 
may be fitted for the Whitehead torpedo, as desired, being equally well 
adapted to either weapon. 

BRITISH TORPEDO-BOAT LIGHTNING. 

This vessel is illustrated in diagram B. The length over all is 84 feet 
breadth 10 feet 10 inches, draught of water 5 feet, and guaranteed speed 
18 knots on the measured mile. The hull of the Lightning is made of 
heavier plating than was formerly used, and her lines are fuller, as she 
is intended for use in a tolerably rough sea if necessary; and in order 
that she may be able to remain at sea for some time, cabin accommoda- 
tions on a scale larger than in any of the other boats have been provided 
for the officers and crew. The steering-gear is arranged so that the 
vessel may be steered from the deck or from the conning tower. The 
top of the conning tower is supported on three screws, so arranged that 
it may be raised or lowered and the space for sight adjusted according 
to the range of vision required or the risk to be run from the enemy's 
missiles. 

The motive machinery is similar to that already described, and is 
capable of indicating 350 horse-power. The armament is to consist of 
Whitehead torpedoes, and the discharging apparatus is fitted to oper- 
ate from the deck forward. 

The Lightning on her preliminary runs in the Thames obtained a 
speed on the measured mile of 19.4 knots per hour, a speed which will 
be considerably reduced when all .the weights are on board. The cost of 
this boat is $25,515. 

A large number of torpedo-boats are in process of construction for the 
British admiralty, by private firms and at the dock-yards. 

In diagram A will be seen another size of boat built for the Italian and 
Dutch Governments. These vessels are 76 feet long, 10 feet broad, and 
the guaranteed speed is 18 knots on the mile run. They are similar to 
the smaller sized French boats, but have more free-board forward, and 
the indicated horse-power is 250. 

The Italian boats are armed with the Whitehead torpedo, and the 
Dutch boats are fitted with the outrigging apparatus. The cost of the 
latter vessel was $23,085. 



TORPEDO-WARFARE. 309 

All the boats described are without sails, and carry coal for a few hours 
only, at their maximum speed. 

TORPEDO BOATS BUILT BY YARROW & CO., ISLE OF DOGS, LONDON. 

This firm has also attained distinction as the builders of these recent 
and improved engines of naval warfare which science has given to the 
world. 

Nothing short of actual inspection can give an adequate idea of the 
amount of ingenuity expended in overcoming difficulties and arriving at 
the required results in these craft. During 1875 I had the opportunity 
of inspecting a torpedo-boat for ocean purposes, built by Messrs. Yarrow 
& Co., for the navy of Holland. It is 66 feet long, 10 broad, and 5J feet 
deep, and is driven by a pair of inverted direct-acting engines, of 11 
inches diameter of cylinders and 14 inches stroke of pistons. The boiler 
is of the locomotive type, with a total heating surface of 450 square feet, 
and a working pressure of 140 pounds per square inch ; the estimated 
maximum horse-power is 200. This firm has constructed one of their 
fast torpedo-steamers for the Eussian service in the Black Sea. It is 85 
feet in length, and the guaranteed speed on the measured mile is 20 
knots per hour. 

A number of boats have been built by the same firm since then for 
continental navies.* 

The following outline-drawings will convey a good idea of the general 
nternal arrangement of two sizes of a type of torpedo-boat of which 
a considerable number have been built by Messrs. Yarrow & Co. The 
dimensions of the one showing the section at A are: Length, 75 feet; beam, 
10J feet ; draught of water, 3 feet. The length, therefore, is little more 
than seven times the beam, a condition which renders the extraordinary 
speed which has been attained the more remarkable. The boat just re- 
ferred to is, like all other torpedo-launches, built of steel of the best 
quality, no other metal possessing the requisite strength and stiffness 
for scantling and plates of such lightness. It is divided into eight com- 
partments by seven transverse bulkheads, the forward and after com- 
partments being used for stores, the two central compartments being 
occupied by the machinery, while the steersman and the officer man- 
aging the torpedoes are placed in the compartment immediately abaft 
the engines. The steersman's head projects above the deck, and is pro- 
tected by an iron truncated cone, the top part of which is movable like 
the visor of a helmet ; when it is lowered he sees his way through a 
series of slots made all around the circumference of the cone. The hull 
is decked over from end to end with a curved shield, the plates of which 
are intended to resist rifle-shots even at comparatively close quarters ; 
it also adds strength to the structure and prevents the sea from wash- 
ing inboard. Strictly speaking, there is no deck on which men can 
stand j two wire life-lines are rigged at each side, and between these a 
space about 4 feet wide forms a precarious kind of floor. 

The motive machinery consists of a pair of vertical, condensing, com- 
pound engines, the cylinders being respectively 10 inches and 18 inches 
in diameter, with a stroke of 12 inches. Steel is introduced into the 
stationary and working parts to secure lightness. The revolutions per 
minute, when running at full speed, are about 470, and the indicated 

*The London Times of January 22, 1878, reports that one hundred torpedo-boats 
have been ordered by the Russian Government to be built in St. Petersburg, to be 
copies of those built by Messrs. Yarrow & Co. Fifty of them are to be completed in 
six months and then to be transported by rail to Odessa. 



310 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

horse-power 275 to 280. The piston speed is thus 940 feet per minute, 
a velocity not often exceeded. 

It need scarcely be said that great care is required in designing and 
building machinery of this kind ; not only is it necessary that the mov- 
ing parts should be properly balanced, bat also that the materials and 
workmanship should be exceptionally good. 

The steam is condensed by a surface condenser. The air pump, cir- 
culating and feed pumps, are worked by a separate vertical engine, 
runniug at a comparatively slow speed. The propeller is of steel. The 
steam is supplied by a boiler of the locomotive type with a very large grate 
surface, and the pressure of steam is 120 pounds per square inch. The 
smoke-pipe is fixed at one side of the line of the keel, to be out of the way of 
the torpedo-pole. The fires are forced by a fan driven at 1,100 revolu- 
tions per minute by a small separate engine, so that the weight of coal 
consumed per square foot of grate surface is very large. To secure the 
absence of smoke, Welsh coal is used ; and the condition requiring that 
the machinery should be noiseless is satisfied by the employment of 
condensing engines. 

During a run of two hours, a speed of 17 knots per hour is reported 
to have been attained. 

Boats of larger dimensions, viz, 84 feet in length and of 11 feet beam, 
are in process of construction ; the estimated speed of these is 1SJ 
knots. The torpedo-gear has been described as follows : 

The mechanism of attack consists of three torpedo-spars, which are made of steel in 
order that they may be strong enough to pierce torpedo-nets put down for the pro- 
tection of the ships likely to be attacked. The bow-pole consists of a hollow steel tube 
5 inches in diameter and 40 feet long. Under ordinary conditions this rests snugly on 
the top of the curved shield, but when going into action it is forced out and lowered 
by a small steam-engine provided for the purpose, which hauls on it with ropes, and is 
under the control of the steersman ; the engine also raises the pole up and hauls it in. 
When the pole is out to its fullest extent it projects 25 feet from the bow, and the tor- 
pedo itself is 10 feet below the surface of the water. 

The bow-pole is only applicable for attacking ships at rest, as it is found from actual 
experience that, in spite of its strength, it is quite unable to withstand the strain which 
would be brought on it by the resistance of the water when the launch is moving at 
seventeen or eighteen knots an hour. Besides, the presence of the torpedo in the water 
would materially diminish the speed of the boat, and interfere with her steering 
qualities, as may well be imagined. For what we may term a running fight, the tor- 
pedo-boat is provided, as we have said, with two other poles, which are so fitted that 
they swing out from the side, as oars will turn in pin-rowlocks. When using these, 
the boat endeavors to pass alongside the vessel which she is attacking, at a distance 
of 15 or 20 feet. The end of a pole is then disengaged by the steersman. It drops 
overboard, and is immediately swung round by the resistance of the water, and, if all 
goes well, comes into contact with the ship's side and explodes. Should the distance 
be too great it falls astern, the pole lying alongside like an oar. It can then be re- 
covered and used for another attempt. The torpedo-boat throughout the operation 
moves at full speed. It will be seen that the use of these torpedoes is extremely 
hazardous, unless the distance between the boat and the ship is carefully calculated. 
But considerations of this kind do not militate against the employment of a very in- 
genious expedient. So long as there is a chauce of destroying an enemy's ship, brave 
men will not be lacking to try it at any personal risk. 

The torpedo itself is a steel or copper case, holding 40 pounds of dynamite, and is 
arranged to be exploded by an electric current, the current being closed either by the 
torpedo coming in contact with an obstruction or at the will of the operator. 

SEA-GOING TORPEDO VESSELS. 

Several sea-going vessels of small dimensions have been built and 
fitted especially for ejecting Whitehead fish-torpedoes. The first one of 
this variety constructed by the English was the Vesuvius, put afloat in 
1874. This vessel is of iron, of 260 tons displacement and 379 indicated 
horse-power. She is fitted with a lauuching-tube in the forward end, 



TORPEDO- WARFARE. 311 

and has been used generally in Porchester Lake, near Portsmouth, as 
a school of instruction in the use of the Whitehead torpedo for both 
executive and engineer officers. Quite a number of other vessels, for 
torpedo service exclusively, have been ordered by the English admiralty, 
and some are in process of construction, in addition to which it has been 
decided to apply the apparatus for manipulating the Whitehead torpedo 
to all ships, both armored and unarmored, fitted for service, and all of 
those equipped for sea within the last two years have been so fitted, 
and are provided with the torpedoes as a part of their armaments. 

THE TORPEDO-VESSEL ZTETHEN. 

The Ziethen is an unarmored iron-built German vessel, 226 feet long, 28 
feet broad, 18 feet 6 inches deep, and has a load-draught of 11 feet 8 
inches. This vessel was built and completed in June, 1876, by the Thames 
Iron Works at Blackwall, London, for the torpedo service of the Ger- 
man Imperial Government, and she was intended to carry out a series of 
experiments at sea with the Whitehead or fish torpedo. She has twin 
screws and two pairs of non-compound engines, by ^Messrs. John Penn 
& Sons, designed to indicate 2,500 horse-power. There are six cylin- 
drical boilers, each containing two furnaces, set in the vessel back to 
back, occupying the whole width and about 30 feet fore and aft of the 
vessel, besides the fire-rooms, one of which is forward and the other aft, 
next to the engines. The maximum speed is 16 knots per hour at sea, 
and as the vessel is not to be used as a cruiser, economy of fuel was not 
a consideration in the design. 

The Ziethen is built with two tubes, not much unlike screw-propeller- 
shaft tubes, placed in a line with the keel, one forward and the other 
aft, having valves at either end. They are 6 feet below the water-line; 
the after tube projects just over and beyond the rudder, the outlet of 
the forward tube is about 16 feet back in the fore body of the vessel, 
and a triangular portion of the hull is made to hinge in the stem and 
lift into a water-tight well, so that there is no projection to interfere 
with the speed of the vessel. From the tubes Whitehead torpedoes are 
expelled by means of compressed air forced in by pumps worked by a 
steam-engine. A small pipe connects the tube with a Kingston valve 
in the bilge of the ship. The torpedo used in this vessel is represented 
to be a great improvement over the weapon which the British gov- 
ernment purchased the right to use. It is cigar-shaped, is about 17 feet 
6 inches long, by 15 inches in diameter at the center, and the pressure 
of air contained in its chamber, when launched from the tube, is stated 
to be 1,000 pounds per square inch. To use the torpedo it is first charged 
with air to the desired pressure by means of an air-compressing pump, 
and then set to the depth and distance intended to be run, after which the 
fore end containing the explosive charge is secured, and the percussion 
arrangement properly adjusted. The torpedo being then ready for 
action, it is pushed into the launching-tube, the valve behind is closed, 
and the water from the Kingston valve admitted into the tube. A pump 
in the engine-room supplies air to a reservoir under a high pressure, and 
when it is wished to discharge the torpedo, the exit-valve of the tube 
being open, communication is opened between the reservoir and an ap- 
paratus in the rear end of the launching-tube, which forces the torpedo 
out with great velocity, at the same instant tripping its air-valve, which 
sets in motion the engine that works the screw-propeller by the self- 
contained power accumulated in the air-chamber. The speed at which 
the torpedo leaves the ship is to be 20 miles per hour, and it is said 



312 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

that it will maintain this rate for a short distance with a given immer- 
sion, after which the speed, consequent upon lessened pressure in the 
air-chamber as the engine works it off, will gradually diminish until the 
distance of about 2,500 feet from the starting-point is reached, when it 
will have run its course. The slower the velocity at which it is started 
the greater the distance it will run, depending on the capacity of the 
air-chamber and the pressure of air contained therein. 

The German Government intends to determine, by careful experiment 
at sea, whether it can be delivered with certainty from a ship more or 
less in motion riding on waves, against another vessel similarly circum- 
stanced, and perhaps moving under sail; in fact, under all conditions 
likely to happen in war. For this purpose, together with the cost of 
the Ziethen, the patent-fees and torpedoes, about $350,000 have been 
appropriated, and it is intended to expend $150,000 additional if the 
experiments justify it. 

The Naval and Military Gazette reports the following, under date of 
October 10, 1877: 

THE WHITEHEAD TORPEDO. 

Experiments have once more been made in Germany — for the third time this year — 
with the Whitehead fish-torpedo, and, as in the two previous trials, the torpedo has 
again issued triumphant. It has, according to the testimony of the judges, almost sur- 
passed their expectations, and military and naval authorities alike predict for it a 
great future. The first experiments were made in June last on a small scale, but suffi- 
cient to establish the character of the weapon, then as good as new to Germany. In 
consequence of this satisfactory result, the naval minister (General von Stosch) ordered 
the experiment to be repeated on a larger scale, in his presence, on the 18th of la&t 
month. Blank torpedoes were fired from the torpedo-steamer Ziethen at a submarine 
target 2,300 feet distant. The target was not missed a single time. After this the 
experiment was varied with a view to ascertaining if the torpedoes may be used with- 
out the protection of coast batteries, as an independent means of defense for harbors.. 
For this purpose the services of the gunboat Scorpion, which is provided with a novel 
apparatus for discharging torpedoes, were put into requisition. Again the torpedo 
gave complete satisfaction. The experiment was tried a third time. The steamer 
Ziethen was ordered to aim torpedoes as if in battle, while sailing at full speed, at a 
target representing the broadside of a corvette. Of four shots fired, two from the bow 
and two from the stern, two struck the target right in the middle, which was as satis- 
factory a result as could at all have been looked for. In conclusion, the new apparatus 
for launching torpedoes from the upper part of a vessel was tried, and notwithstanding 
the apparatus had only just arrived and the crew were not yet perfectly familiar with its- 
machinery, satisfactory results were obtained. So satisfactory, indeed, are the results 
altogether as to induce the minister of war (General von Kaineke) to order a fresh trial 
in his presence for the purpose of ascertaining if the new weapon may be used by land 
batteries for coast defense. These experiments were proceeded with on the 28th of 
last month, in the presence of a considerable number of distinguished officers of the 
artillery and the engineers, and though no details are given in the published reports, 
the results are stated to have been highly creditable to the torpedo, and to have satis- 
fied the military authorities that it may be used with advantage in the way suggested. 
It is reported to be likely that before long torpedoes will be served out to coast batter- 
ies for regulation practice. 

GERMAN TORPEDO-BOAT UHLAN. 

This boat was built in Germany by the Stettin Engine Company, and 
launched early in the summer of 1876. I did not see her, but the Ger- 
man papers announced the leading features of the boat, and, as they are 
peculiar and unusual, I copy the description : 

This vessel will receive a torpedo charged with dynamite, to be carried on a 10-foot 
ram, lying deeply under the water-line ; which torpedo is to explode on contact with 
the hostile ship. To protect the torpedo-boat from the results of the discharge of its 
own torpedo, the vessel is built with two complete fore parts, sliding one within tbe 
other, and having a considerable extent of intermediate space between them. This 
space is filled with a tough and elastic material (cork and marine glue), and thus if 
even tbe bows were carried off, there would be a second line of resistance. The object 
of the filling is to act like a buffer, deadening the blow aud protecting the stem. 



TORPEDO-WARFARE. 313 

Another striking feature is the great power of the engines. The Uhlan carries an 
engine of 1,000 indicated horse-power. The steam is supplied by Belleville's tubular 
generator. The vessel, in fact, is all engine, only a very small space being left for 
coal and crew. The great power of the engines is necessitated by two circum- 
stances. In the first place, the steamer has to be propelled at a high speed, and 
it has a very great draught, so as to offer but little scope to projectiles. In the next 
place, the greatest facility of steering or maneuvering had to be attained; hence 
the proportion of width to length, 25 to 70 feet. In order to save the crew at the 
worst, a raft has been constructed, which is filled with the above mixture of cork and 
marine glue, and is placed near the helm. When the Uhlan enters into action the dyna- 
mite cartridge is to be fixed by divers at the point of the ram. The rudder is then to 
be fixed ; and the crew are to open a wide port on the ship's side, and with their raft 
jump into the water. The steamer is then allowed to rush forward and burst its car- 
tridge on the enemy's armor. The crew, however, are to hold on to the torpedo-boat 
by a line while they are awaiting the result of the explosion ; and in case their boat 
is not hurt they are to board it again, in order, if necessary, to repeat the maneuver. 
The price of this torpedo-boat is about 200,000 thalers. 

RUSSIAN TORPEDO-BOAT TJZREEF (EXPLOSION). 

This vessel, built at St. Petersburg, is constructed solely for the pur- 
pose of ejecting Whitehead torpedoes. She was launched August 13, 
1877. Some of the data are, length about 115 feet, breadth 16 feet, 
draught at bow lh feet, and at stern 10 feet. The engines, which have 
two low-pressure cylinders and one high-pressure cylinder, are designed 
for an indicated horse-power of 800, and the estimated speed is 17 knots 
per hour, at which rate she will carry coal for twenty -four hours. Steel 
is the material used in portions of the hull. 

THE ITALIAN TORPEDO-BOAT PIETRO MICCA. 

The Pietro Micca, a vessel intended to discharge the Whitehead tor- 
pedo, was launched in Venice in the month of August [1876]. In the 
matter of construction this vessel is truly a novelty. According to 
JJAnnee Maritime, a few of her dimensions and other particulars are as 
follows : 

Length between perpendiculars 202 feet 11 inches. 

Extreme width 19 feet 7 inches. 

Mean draught of water 11 feet 10J inches. 

Displacement 526. 545 tons. 

Immersed midship section 109. 9672 square feet. 

The bottom, which is entirely flat in the central part, is joined by arcs 
of circles with the sides, which are vertical above the bilge; these verti- 
cal sides again are connected by very pronounced inverse curves with 
the upper works, so that the transverse section at the widest part has 
the form of a mallet of which the handle would be very thick and very 
short. 

The object sought in the construction of this vessel was great speed, 
in order that she might surprise an enemy and escape after accomplish- 
ing her object or upon being seriously threatened. Almost the entire 
hold is occupied by machinery, only about one-fourth of the forward 
portion containing the mechanism for ejecting torpedoes. 

The machinery, built by the Ausaldo Company at Sampierdarena, is 
of 1,400 effective horse-power. It consists of vertical trip-hammer 
engines, and some of the other data are as follows : 

Number of cylinders 2 

Diameter of cylinders 30 inches. 

Stroke of pistons 16 inches. 

Number of boilers 4 



314 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

Kuniber of furnaces in each boiler 2 

Pressure of steam 90 pounds. 

Grate surface ., 136. 5 square feet. 

Heating surface 5, 511 square feet. 

There is a surface-condenser ; the circulating-pumps may draw from 
the bilge. There are two chimneys and a superheater. In each boiler- 
compartment is a special 8 horse-power blower to be driven 1,200 revolu- 
tions per minute, and to furnish the boilers with air. The rudder and 
capstan are actuated by steam, and the former may be operated from 
three different stations. 

The hull is of iron, and not armored excepting as to the lower deck, 
which is horizontal for a width of 7 feet 1 inch, and inclines slightly 
beyond that point toward the sides of the ship. The central horizontal 
part consists of three sheets, one of steel .6 inch thick, and two of iron 
each .8 inch in thickness. The inclined portions are .4 inch and .8 inch 
thick. The armament consists of ten Whitehead torpedoes and two 
mitrailleuses. 

The vessel was launched with all the machinery on board, so that a 
week after, they were able to make the preliminary trial of the machin- 
ery, which worked with great regularity. As, however, the feed-pump 
of the forward group [of boilers] broke down, the trials for speed were 
delayed. The estimated speed is 18 knots, and cost $171,540. 

In the Pietro Micca great speed is almost exclusively the point in view, 
the proportions of length to breadth being 10.36 to 1, and 12.73 horse- 
power being employed per square foot of immersed midship section ; and 
this is imperative, for vessels of this type, naturally vulnerable, must 
remain for the shortest possible time exposed to danger from artillery. 
They must fall upon the enemy unawares, and escape if tbey are seriously 
threatened, or avoid an adversary similarly armed. 

Another vessel like the Pietro Micca was to be built by the Italians. 

SWEDISH TORPEDO-VESSEL RAN. 

The Ban, which was built near Stockholm, and launched in July, 1877, 
is an unarmored vessel, rigged with two masts and fitted for ejecting 
Whitehead torpedoes. Her dimensions and other data are : Length on 
the water-line, 165 feet 6 inches ; beam, 25 feet 4 inches ; draught, 9 
feet 6 inches, and displacement, 625 tons. She is provided with twin 
screw-propellers which are operated by engines capable of indicating 
960 horse-power, and the speed is estimated at 13 knots per hour. In 
addition to eight torpedoes, which may be increased to twelve, if neces- 
sary, there is an armament of one 4|-inch rifle-gun, and four Palmkrantz 
mitrailleuses. Her crew is said to consist of 65 men, and her estimated 
cost is reported to be $138,950. 

THE OBERON TORPEDO EXPERIMENTS. 

The Oberon is an iron vessel, of 649 tons B. M., which has for severa 
years past been used for carrying into effect a series of extensive and 
iostly experiments, by exploding torpedoes near to and against her bot- 
tom, the chief object in view being to ascertain the effect of torpedo ex- 
plosions on the double bottoms of armored ships, under different forms 
of construction and various conditions of attack. For this purpose the 
vessel has had an outer bottom built to the inner skin, which is intended 
to represent, as nearly as possible, the bottom of the broadside armored 
ship Hercules, and to be of about the same strength. 



TORPEDO-WARFARE. 315 

The Oberon has an original J-inch plate bottom, single-riveted, with 
support afforded by angle-iron transverse frames 21 inches apart. These 
frames consist of two pieces of angle-iron riveted together. The second 
or outer bottom, % inch thick, is fixed at a distance of 3 feet 6 inches 
from the inner one at the keel, and 2 feet 3 inches above the water-line. 
This bottom has every alternate plate with both its edges double-riveted 
outside those of the adjacent plates. Along the center of each of these 
alternate or outside plates, which are those that first come in contact 
with any external object, runs a longitudinal frame attached also to the 
inner bottom. Transverse frames run around at intervals of 4 feet, and 
are riveted to both bottoms by means of an angle-iron. Thus the space 
between the two bottoms of the ship is divided up by the longitudinal 
and transverse frames into spaces something like cubes or boxes, the 
top and bottom of such boxes being furnished by the inner and outer 
bottoms of the ship, and the four sides by the frames crossing one an- 
other. To lessen the weight of the metal, circular holes are cut in the 
middle of these box-sides in most cases. Every fourth transverse frame, 
however, is thoroughly closed and makes a water-tight bulkhead. It 
will be seen, therefore, that this is an exceedingly strong bottom. 

The several experiments made with this vessel have been published 
in detail. The only one carried out during my sojourn in England was 
in June, 1876, and as it was considered the most important of all, I re^ 
produce here, from Engineering, the results for the benefit of those inter- 
ested in this special branch of naval warfare: 

The Oberon torpedo-hulk was placed in No. 10 dock at Portsmouth on Wednesday 
afternoon, and the water having: been let out, on Thursday morning it was possible 
for the first time to observe clearly the injuries she sustained from the torpedo experi- 
ments of Monday. The ship is divided into seven water-tight compartments, of which 
the two in the immediate neighborhood of the discharges were destroyed and filled 
with water. The bulkheads of four of the others remained intact, but permitted the 
water to leak through, but not beyond the capacities of the ordinary ship's pumps to 
keep down. The center compartment amidships remained perfectly dry; and as this 
was the largest in the vessel, it sufficed, with the artificial flotation which was afforded 
by upward of 300 casks which were packed away in the fore and aft compartments, 
to float the Oberon at high tide, and enable her to be taken in tow with little difficulty. 
In consequence of the buoyancy thus imparted to her, she settled with great delibera- 
tion, and it was the general impression at the time that she had not been severely hit, 
and least of all by the Harvey torpedo, which had been suspended from the starboard 
bow. This impression was effectually dispelled by the melancholy spectacle which 
presented itself on Thursday morning when the ship was fully exposed in dock. Not- 
withstanding the lightness with which she lay in the water — she only drew 11 fee f , 
and consequently bore only a distant comparison with an iron-clad with its machinery 
and weights on board — every charge seems to have told with terrible effect, any one of 
the holes being sufficient of itself to have sunk the best of iron-clads, in spite of the 
Makaroff mat or any other leak-stopping devices that could have been applied. The 
Harvey torpedo, which contained 66 pounds of gunpowder, has split and bulged in an 
area of plating of the outer bottom about 16 feet square, extending downward through 
two longitudinals to the garboard plates, and laterally to the water-tight frame 
on each side of No. 4, utterly destroying the intermediate brackets. The injury 
here is very clearly defined, the longitudinals and frames having apparently acted 
as knives, so cleanly have the plates forced in upon them been cut through in the 
direction of the fiber of the iron. Had the longitudinal girders been placed closer 
together, the resistance would have been greater, and the damage to the inner bottom 
would at least have been less. The bracket-frames, which are only kept in position by 
angle-irons, seemed to have been snapped and doubled up with alarming ease, by the. 
force of the concussion. The inner bottom has been extensively damaged and 
bulged in, but not so much as might have been supposed from the appearance of 
the outer skin, the straightness of the bows having allowed much of the explosion to 
spend itself vertically. As might have been expected, the greatest damage is exhib- 
ited under the bilge on each side of No. 30| frame, against which two charges, respect- 
ively of 33 pounds of slab gun-cotton and 33 pounds of granulated gun-cotton, were 
fired. Here frightful wounds were visible — wounds which are plainly past redemp- 
tion. The holes are about 18feet square eae.h, and extend from the third strake below 
the armor-shelf well-nigh to the keel-plating. The greatest force appears to have 



316 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

been exerted on the starboard side by the granulated preparation. The iron skin has 
been torn from the rivets, the girders and bracket-frames shot away, and the upper plat- 
iDg wrenched completely off from their supports and blown away. The port side of 
the same frame presents a similarly ruinous aspect. The only difference is — and prac- 
tically it is one without a distinction — that the plates, instead of being broken off, are 
lacerated in all directions and forced upon the inner bottom, which here as also on the 
opposite side is torn and forced inward. With the exception that the taffrail is blown 
away and the galley dismantled, the explosive forces seem to have been confined for 
the most part within well-defined limits. The wounds left by the previous experi- 
ments have not been reopened, and though the ship must have been lifted fore and 
aft, the fissures amidships do not appear to have extended. It is probable that, after 
a careful survey has been made, the Oberon will be filled with coal and submitted to a 
series of shell experiments. She can be of no further use for torpedo purposes. 

It is impossible not to be struck by the suggestiveness of the above- 
mentioned experiments with reference to the future not only of naval 
warfare, but, in a still more impressive degree, of naval architecture. 
The terrible injury which the Oberon has sustained proves beyond 
all cavil that no iron-clad could withstand the bursting of a torpedo 
in contact; a torpedo would prove destructive almost wherever it 
struck, and a ship could hardly be saved by any turn of the helm. A 
projectile from the 81-ton gun would probably not prove utterly de- 
structive, unless it hit at right angles with the keel ; but a torpedo, so 
long as it hits, no matter where, would dislocate the integrity of the 
ship within an area large enough to prove fatal. The larger the vessel 
the more likely it is to fall a prey to the torpedo or the water-rocket. 
Its size would render it more susceptible to attack, and its slower speed 
would make it more difficult to escape from an active enemy. Smaller 
ships, therefore, would seem a necessity of the time, leaving details of 
construction for further consideration. 

The question of stopping leaks from the outside, which was raised in 
the case of the Vanguard, again suggests itself here. It would appear 
that this was the most hopeful way of dealing with a leak of this char- 
acter, where there is so much bent plate, which, while it is very diffi- 
cult to repair, affords support to the sail or other material let down 
over it from the outside. Some experiments as to the possibility of 
closing such leaks would be valuable. 

Contact charges and the action of the movable torpedo lead naturally 
to the contemplation of the probable effect of the Whitehead fish-tor- 
pedo. On every ground this has become a grave question for the Brit- 
ish, especially since it has been found that it can be dispatched from 
the decks of armor-clad or other ships. As long as a special and sub- 
ordinate class of vessels was devoted entirely to this species of attack, 
and had to carry tubes below the water-line, it was argued that approach 
would be excessively difficult ; but when the heaviest armor-clads can, 
without sacrificing anything, avail themselves of this additional weapon, 
the question wears a different aspect. 

A very important point in the investigations on the Oberon was the 
total absence of damage sustained by certain steam-launches, moored 
at the distance of 22 feet from each torpedo ; the object being to ascer- 
tain the effect likely to be produced upon a boat supposed to carry the 
torpedo at the end of a spar ; the result showed that the effect upon 
the supposed aggressor was almost nil, and this seemed to be corrob- 
orated by the experiments mentioned elsewhere with the Bayonnaise. 
It had already been proved that the explosion of 120 pounds of gun- 
powder in the open air, at the extremity of the spar of a torpedo- 
launch, worked no injury whatever to the boat. 



TORPEDO-WARFARE. 317 

DEFENSE AGAINST TOBPEDOES. 

The various methods by which torpedoes may be detected, warded 
off, exploded by counter- torpedoes, or otherwise rendered harmless to 
the party assailed, are now the subject of patient and exhaustive study 
in the British service. 

In the case of moored torpedoes depending for their ignition upon 
electricity, many points of scientific interest have recently been brought 
to light. Some experiments undertaken in Denmark about three years 
ago showed most conclusively that dynamite torpedoes cannot be placed 
close together without incurring the danger of one charge bringing 
about the explosion of others. A dynamite torpedo of 150 pounds, 
ignited in 10 feet of water, was found capable of exploding other 
charges at a distance of 300 feet by the mere vibration imparted to the 
water, so that in supplementing coast defenses with dynamite torpedoes 
it is absolutely necessary to keep them far apart from one another. A 
second point noted was that a mere current of electricity, if it emanates 
from a powerful frictional machine, traversing one of a bundle of wires, 
will induce a current in the other wires, and thus bring about the explo- 
sion of torpedoes other than that which the operator on shore desires to 
ignite. It is these facts, particularly, which have led to the develop- 
ment of a system of counter-attacks, and have enabled seamen to devise 
a means of defending themselves from the insidious weapons. 

Both dynamite and gun-cotton are peculiarly sensitive to vibration; 
indeed, their detonation is brought about by no other cause; hence, by 
exploding counter-mines in the channel which it is desired a ship of 
war shall enter, any lurking torpedoes may soon be disposed of — that is, 
if they contain a nitro-glycerine compound — and so a way for the ship be 
speedily cleared. 

The successes of both Bussian and Turkish divers in the present East- 
ern war, in searching for and severing the connecting cables and remov- 
ing moored torpedoes, has shown a second way of clearing the road. 

As a protection against the fish, Harvey, and spar torpedoes, many 
engineers and men of science have devoted their energies to determine 
some satisfactory means of disclosing the maneuvers of the attack and 
preventing its being effective. Hobart Pasha fitted his flag-ship, the 
Assar-iTevJilc, with a large net of half-inch rope, the top of which was 
made fast to the bowsprit, while the lower part stretched along a strong 
iron bar, and was boomed out in advance of the hull by spars. When the 
net was not required it was triced up to the bowsprit and drawn inboard. 
It has also been suggested to employ a flexible wire-rope netting, sur- 
rouuding the submerged portion of the vessel, as a shield to ward off 
the attack by recoil. Such contrivances, however, can only be regarded 
as a cumbersome appendage, and, at best, only a partial defense; more- 
over, increased velocity in the movable torpedo may render such pre- 
caution unavailing. The better plan would be to surround the vessel 
with a number of boats to repel the attack. 

The Turks succeeded in defending one of their monitors in June last, 
near the mouth of the Aluta, from a most daring and persistent attack 
of four Bussian torpedo-boats. This occurred in broad daylight. The 
boats lay in wait behind an island, aud when the monitor was steaming 
past, suddenly darted out from their hiding-place and bore down on her. 
This vessel, it soon became evident, was handled in a different fashion 
from others with which the Russians had to deal. With wonderful 
quickness and skill she was prepared for action, and made defense 
against the four little enemies by thrusting out torpedoes on the ends of 



318 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

long spars, thus threatening the boats with destruction, at the same 
time opening fire on them with mitrailleuses and small-arms. The tor- 
pedo-boats escaped with the loss of only four or five men wounded, and 
considerable damage to the little vessels. The attack lasted about an 
hour, and that the boats should have suffered so little loss shows how 
difficult it is to hit these launches when in motion. It is reported that 
they were fitted out in the same manner as those which blew up the 
monitor at Braila, but this attempt, as well as the one at Giurgevo, was 
made in broad daylight, and neither of them succeeded. 

The most valuable aid to defense, and the one to which special atten- 
tion seems to be directed, is that of illumination — light of sufficient 
power to disclose any object attempting to enter a zone of illumination 
around a ship. If a sufficient and continuous illumination can be main- 
tained at a given distance from a ship, no torpedo-launch or boat 
wo aid venture to approach it. The launch would be doomed to destruc- 
tion by the mitrailleuses, Gatling guns, or other small weapons now 
carried by ships of war. 

The important adaptation of an old invention to a new need, that of the 
electric light to the discovery of an approaching boat, is called by its 
introducer, Mr. Wilde, the " torpedo-detector.' 7 It was applied to the 
Comet, which vessel was sent to sea one night from the Isle of Wight in 
order to receive the attack of two torpedo-boats, of whose whereabouts 
and direction of approach she was completely ignorant. They were dis- 
covered while more than a mile distant, and in different directions, and 
when they sought to escape from the cone of luminous rays enveloping 
them, and to renew the attack from other points, the apparatus followed 
them so relentlessly that they were soon convinced of the uselessness of 
attempting concealment. The light was sufficiently brilliant to enable 
the Times to be read on board vessels at a distance of a mile and a quar- 
ter. The whole apparatus weighs about 1,100 pounds and occupies a 
bulk of less than 5 cubic feet. The rotatory power was derived on the 
Comet from the fly-wheel of a hoisting-engine. The expense of produc- 
ing the light, apart from first cost and steam-power, is about four cents 
per hour. 

Several ships have already been fitted with electric lights, and recently 
some advance has been made toward solving this problem of illumina- 
tion at sea by a trial of what is known as the " Holmes distress signal," 
in the form of a projectile for illuminating purposes, to be fired from 
mortars at a range varying from 500 to 2,500 yards. These signals pos- 
sess the property of emitting a very powerful white light the moment 
they come into contact with the water, and when once ignited are abso- 
lutely inextinguishable by either wind or water, and burn with a per- 
sistency that is almost incredible, thirty or forty minutes being an average 
duration. The missile containing this light is made so as to be buoyant 
upon water, and at the same time with sufficient rigidity of form to with- 
stand the concussion of powder. It is thus further described : 

Upon striking the water at the required range, the shot, floating up to the surface, im- 
mediately bursts into a brilliant flame, with great illuminating power. Some half-dozen 
of these shots fired from an iron clad or gunboat would effectually surround her with 
an impassable cordon of light at any required range, and by such a device, while the 
vessel herself would remain in darkness, the enemy's movements of attack would 
become plainly discernible, and any attempt to break through the illuminated zone of 
light be at once detected, however dark the night. 

Mr. A. M. F. Silas, of Vienna, is also reported to have invented a light 
of much the same description. 

In fact, a whole system of tactics is in course of being elaborated with 
a view to defense against the new weapon, thereby sigually illustrating 
the changing and progressive condition of the art of naval war. 



:pjl:r,t ixiik: 



SEA VALVES AND COCKS ; STEEEING-GEAE. 



19 



SEA VALVES AND COCKS. 



It is well known that all the water from the sea required for the pur- 
pose of working the engines and boilers of the vessel is admitted through 
several holes cut through the bottom or bilge, and that these holes are 
covered by what are known as sea valves or cocks, made either of cast 
iron or brass; and that they are secured to the skin of the vessel by 
bolts, and connected to the engines and boilers by pipes of copper, brass, 
or iron. Heretofore, these valves or cocks have generally been placed 
low down on the floor of the ship, so as to be out of the way; the engine- 
room as well as the fire-room floor-plates being above them, they are out 
of sight and very difficult of access, so that if a leak or accident occurs, 
it is not always discovered until the water rises to the floor, when it may 
be too late for remedy, because the engineer cannot ascertain the cause in 
consequence of the valves and pipes being covered with a considerable 
depth of water. Many serious accidents have happened in consequence 
of this arrangement. Among them maybe mentioned the loss of the 
Knight Templar ; also, the case of the French trans- Atlantic steamer 
Europe, of 4,000 tons, abandoned in the Atlantic April 2, 1874; the 
crew and passengers, in all about four hundred, being taken off the 
sinking vessel by the English steamer Greece. When abandoned there 
were only about 6 feet of water in the engine and fire rooms, and 1 foot 
in the adjoining holds. It is evident that the leak was in the engine 
department from sea-connections, as was proved by a very singular co- 
incidence, for only a few days afterward her sister ship, the Amerique, 
of 4,000 tons, belonging to the same owners, was abandoned in the Eng- 
lish Channel, afterward picked up by an English steamer and towed 
into Plymouth Harbor, with the engine and boiler rooms full of water. 
When it was purnped out, nothing was found wrong with the ship, and 
the difficulty with the sea connections was never made public. These two 
ships were valued at nearly $3,838,000, exclusive of cargoes, and their 
abandonment at sea, under such circumstances, was altogether owing to 
the want of practical engineering skill and courage, added to the cap- 
tain's lack of presence of mind in emergencies. The Ormesby, of 930 
tons, was abandoned in the Bay of Biscay in January, 1874; after hav- 
ing encountered a very heavy gale, water was suddenly discovered com- 
ing into the engine and fire rooms, and in a short time it put out the 
fires; as no leaks could be discovered in any other parts of the vessel, 
it was supposed to have come from the exposed and dangerous condi- 
tion of the sea-cocks. There are many known cases of narrow escape, 
and, among naval vessels, notably that of the Iron Duke; besides which 
it is believed that unreported losses have occurred from the same causes. 
In consequence of these accidents, Lloyd r s Register of Shipping now 
requires the sea valves and cocks of all descriptions to be placed above 
the bilge in all ships constructed or remodeled. 

There is, however, no British law regulating the number of bulkheads 
in iron vessels, or the height to which they should extend. Neither 
Lloyd's nor the Board of Trade makes other provisions than that there 
must be a collision-bulkhead at each end of a steamer and at one end of 
a sailing-vessel. A vessel may be 500 feet long, and have 400 feet of 
that length in the center practically in one compartment. In some ships 
the bulkheads are sufficiently numerous, but do not extend above a deck 

321 
21 K 



322 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

which is nearly level with the load water-line. In that case, if one com- 
partment fills, the vessel sinks enough to bring the tops of all bulkheads 
under water. In other ships wh^re there are proper bulkheads, doors 
are cut in them, which destroy their integrity. The pumps afford but- 
feeble refuge against the dangers thus incurred. That greater precau- 
tions are consistent with commercial success is proved by the recent 
practice of some English owners. 

STEERING GEAR. 

The most essential features in any arrangement of steering-gear are 
simplicity, certainty of action, immunity from derangement, and general 
efficiency. Several varieties of gear have been patented to accomplish 
these objects. It may be profitable to consider those most successfully 
employed, of which there are three systems of recent date, viz, the 
screw-gear, the steam-gear, and the hydraulic gear. 

The introduction of steam-power and screw propellers brought into 
greater prominence the demand for an increase of power in the steering- 
gear, owing to the increased speed, and different conditions under which 
the rudder acts in a steam and sailing vessel, besides which it became 
important to relieve the steersman from the shocks transmitted by the 
rudder when the vessel is being driven through heavy seas. To meet 
these demands the screw-gear (the well-known right and left handed 
screw) was introduced, which in some form or other is now generally em- 
ployed in steamers either as a primary gear or as a stand-by in heavy 
weather. A large number of steamers of the mercantile marine are fitted 
with two sets, one placed aft, immediately in connection with the rudder, 
and the other in such a position that the steersman who works it com- 
mands a view ahead and is immediately under the eye of the officer on 
watch. That placed aft is as a rule a screw-gear, and the forward one 
is of the old-fashioned variety, either a combination of tiller with blocks, 
with wire-rope or chains carried along the deck to the steering-wheel, 
or else a quadrant is keyed on to the rudder head, to each extremity of 
which are attached chains which pass through snatch blocks on either 
quarter, and the communication is carried along the decks by rods or 
rope as before to the hand-gear. But in order to obtain sufficient power 
by the hand-wheels, geared wheels are used, and a pitch-chain which 
connects the rods or wire rope on either passes over a sprocket-wheel or 
chain-pulley, which is keyed on to the same shaft as the spur-wheel. 
By the arrangement of the screw-gear the danger consequent on the 
rudder taking charge is partially avoided, but the whole of the gearing 
and rudder-stock require to be of increased strength to meet the addi- 
tional strain. 

These appliances or modifications of them, for ships of moderate di- 
mensions answer the purpose, and do not require under ordinary cir- 
cumstances a very great amount of manual power, but in the largest 
steamers the best devised of any of these hand- gears meet their wants 
inadequately, and for heavy ships of war the efficiency of the steering 
apparatus becomes a most important question. Here, again, mechanical 
skill has enabled the problem to be dealt with, for both steam and hy- 
draulic power have been successfully applied, and one or the other is now 
generally employed in such vessels, so that they can be readily handled 
in narrow channels or crowded harbors and maneuvered in action. 

The steam-gear which up to the preseut time has met with the largest 
measure of success, and has been adopted in many ships of the British 
navy, also in a large number of commercial ocean steamers, is that 
designed by Mr. McFarlane Gray, and now made by Messrs. Forrester, 
of Liverpool. 



STEERING-GEAR. 323 

As generally applied, it consists of a pair of engines with barrel and 
pitch-wheel, which are placed aft, so as to be in close communication 
with the tiller or quadrant. The valve which controls and reverses the 
engines is in connection with a light steering-wheel placed forward in the 
ship in some convenient position, the connection being made by means 
of shafting. The rudder is also placed in communication with this valve, 
in order that when the position of the rudder required by the steersman 
is reached the engines may come to rest, and on further motion being 
given to the steering-wheel the rudder can be moved either to port or 
starboard. The engines can be fitted amidships, as is sometimes the 
case, and various modifications made. This steering apparatus pos- 
sesses simplicity, is rapid in its action, the engines are not liable to disar- 
rangement, it is as efficient as a simple steam-winch, and the rudder can 
be easily controlled by one man in the heaviest weather. The first cost of 
this system of working the rudder is considerably more than that of the 
old plan worked by manual power, but the saving in the number of men 
at the wheel is a large item ; added to which (and of more importance) 
is the greater security of the vessel by steering more easily in narrow or 
crowded places, and the less risk of collision owing to rapid handling. 

The other steam steering-gears patented, and in some cases fitted, vary 
from the above principally in tbe manner in which the engines are brought 
to rest whenever the desired movement of the rudder has been effected, 
and in the arrangement of the slide-valves. 

The only objection raised to steam as the power to move the rudder 
is the condensation in the long pipes when the engines are placed aft ; 
but with a proper adjustment of the valves this need not interfere with 
the quick and sensitive action of the engines. 

The system of steering-gear that has for some time been competing 
with steam as an agency is the hydraulic. Several types of this have 
been patented. The most successful is that designed by Mr. Brown, 
of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is by far the most complete of its kind, pos 
sessing many of the essentials required for a steering apparatus. The 
large ferry-steamers running between Liverpool and Birkenhead, double- 
enders, vessels which can be steered from either end, are successfully 
handled by this gear. It has also been applied to some large passenger- 
steamers nearly 400 feet in length, and is reported upon favorably. In 
these vessels a small hand-tiller is used for steering, which requires but 
a comparatively small amount of pressure to move from amidships to 
port or starboard, and the rudder quickly follows the movement of the 
hand- tiller, remaining in a similar position until this is again moved. 

A clear description of the apparatus, by Mr. W. J. Pratten, I. N. A., 
is here given : 

la this plan the tiller is acted upon by rams placed athwartships, or in any other 
convenient position; the water being conveyed to them by small pipes from an accu- 
mulator in the engine-room. This accumulator is kept filled with water by a pair of 
small puniping-engines; it consists of a long cylinder fitted with piston and ram. The 
space on the top side of the piston is in communication with the boiler, thereby having 
the same pressure per square inch as the boiler, the space under the ram being, as 
usual, rilled with water. It is so arranged that the pumping-engines take their steam 
from the top of the cylinder, so that when the piston rises to the top, owing to the 
water-chamber being tilled, the steam is shut off and the engines come to rest. As the 
water is used and the piston falls, the engines at once start, and fresh water is pumped 
into the accumulator. The relative areas of piaton and ram are such that the water is 
under a pressure of about 700 pounds per square inch at the full boiler-pressure of 
steam. Iron pipes of one inch bore convey the water from the accumulator to a small 
slide-valve, which is in close proximity to the hand-wheel or tiller, for the use of steers- 
man, and other pipes lead from this valve to the driving-rams placed alt. This valve, 
which resembles a small locomotive one, has a double connection, viz, with the tiller 
used by the steersman, by means of a vertical shaft and levers, and with the rudder by 
wire-ropes. The action is very simple. On moving the hand-tiller far enough to port 



324 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

or starboard, as may be required, water passes from the accumulator through the open 
valve-port to one of the driving-rams aft ; the water at the same time escaping from 
the other ram through the exhaust-port of slide to a tank in the engine-room, from 
which the engines take their supply of water. The rudder is also connected to this 
valve, which is closed by the former getting into the position indicated by the hand- 
tiller. The valve is thus entirely self-acting in closing, after any movement of the 
hand-tiller. The device by which this valve is worked is very ingenious, and other 
contrivances in the design are well worthy of notice. 

As the water is continually returned from the rams to the accumulator, there is only 
the loss by leakage to be made good. This leakage will be principally from the driving- 
rams, and, when these are packed, is reduced to a very small quantity. One great ad- 
vantage arising from always using the same water, is in case of frosty weather, when 
it is necessary to add some non-freezing mixture to protect the pipes from injury. The 
patentee of this design advocates in such cases the use of about 20 per cent, of methy- 
lated spirits as a cheap and most effective preventive against frost. 

The liability of water to freeze in the pipes has been urged as a main objection to 
the use of water-power in any form for a steering apparatus; but, except in cases of ex- 
treme frost, there is little risk of injury if even a smaller proportion of spirits than the 
above be used. The pipes can be carried along the main or lower deck, and the driving- 
rams can also be placed below instead of on the exposed upper deck. 

It is highly necessary that the rams should have sufficient power to place the rudder 
hard over when the ship is running full speed ; in fixing the diameter of the rams and 
leverage on tiller, it must be borne in mind that the boiler-pressure of steam is not 
always constant. If the rams have only been designed to force the rudder hard over 
when using the highest steam-pressure, it is obvious that it will partially fail to work 
effectually when the pressure of steam falls to one-half or two-thirds ; but this is a 
minor point. 

In order to relieve the pipes from a sudden increase of pressure, such as would take 
place when a sea struck the rudder, spring escape-valves are fitted on the barrels of the 
rams, allowing the water to pass from behind one ram to the other, thus preventing 
any loss of water and giving relief to the pipes. 

Of the other hydraulic gears patented, the one by Mr. Esplin has 
been fitted to several ships ; also one by Admiral Inglefield has been 
fitted to a vessel, but it was not free from objections, and after trial was 
removed. When hydraulic gear of this nature is fitted, the water in 
the accumulator may be usefully employed for other purposes, such as 
working independent engines for the starting-gear or anchor-hoister. 

In war-ships or large merchaut-ships entire trust is not placed in the 
steam or hydraulic gears, where they are fitted; for they are supple- 
mented by a screw-gear or other suitable arrangement. In some cases 
the engines are so fitted that they can be readily disconnected from the 
remaining gearing, which can then be worked by hand in the ordinary 
manner. 

Besides the steering-gear successfully applied as above described, 
there has been recently produced by Messrs. P. Brotherhood & Harding- 
ham,* engineers, of London, a new system of steam steering-gear by 
means of which the rudder of a ship can be laid over at any desired 
angle, and, when released, always returns to its normal position. The 
power is transmitted through the Brotherhood three-cylinder type of 
engines. The apparatus is illustrated in the Revue tndustrielle, and 
described fully in Engineering of October 13, 1876. It has been approved 
by the British admiralty, and has been fitted on board the armored ship 
Temeraire. 

The advantages to be derived from the application of power other 
than manual for steering, as well as for hoisting anchors and for re- 
ceiving and discharging weighty articles on board vessels, are so well 
known that enumeration of them is unnecessary. 

* A set of Brotherhood engines was exhibited at the Vienna Exposition, and has been 
described by Professor Thurston as follows : " The cylinders are arranged with their 
axes making angles with each other of 120°. They are single-acting, and the pistons 
are coupled to a single crank. The valve is a revolving one, its axis is coincident with 
that of the crank-shaft, and it is turned by a prolongation of the crank-pin. The cen- 
tral chamber is the steam-chest, aud the valves permit steam to pass to the rear of the 
pistons successively, thus disturbing the existing equilibrium and producing rotation.^ 



IP^IR/T XXI. 



COMPOUND ENGINES. 

NAVAL COMPOUND ENGINES; COMPARATIVE MERITS OF THE 

SIMPLE AND THE COMPOUND ENGINE; STATISTICS 

OF THE PERFORMANCE OF ENGINES, 



325 



COMPOUND ENGINES. 



The efforts of the engineering profession have long been directed to 
the reduction of the cost of the production of power, and for a length- 
ened period the question of the relative merits of the simple and com- 
pound engine occupied the attention of the engineering world. Many 
experiments have been made, and much ability and ingenuity displayed, 
to prove that the compound system possessed no advantages over the 
ordinary simple engine working high-pressure steam ; the most impor- 
tant of these experiments will be noticed presently. 

My annual report to the department, as Chief 01 the Bureau of Steam- 
Engineering, dated October 30, 1871, just after returning from a short 
tour of investigation of the subject, gives the facts at that time ; and as 
they hold good to-day, I cannot do better than copy that part of the 
report which bears on the subject. It is as follows: 

The tour proved very instructive and interesting in many respects, especially in 
Great Britain, where immense fleets of iron ships are constructed and put afloat yearly, 
where ships are built for nearly all European nations, and where the British navy is 
systematically improved and strengthened by additions of nearly twenty chuusand 
tons of iron-clads annually, besides transports and unarmored vessels. 

The vast and varied experience of their constructing engineers and the sharp com- 
petition between rival building firms have given rise to rapid improvements, and com- 
pelled the abandonment of many designs only a few years ago regarded as the best 
productions of engineering skill. 

The pressure of steam carried in marine boilers has gradually risen with correspond- 
ing increase iu the extent to which expansion is carried, until boilers have been intro- 
duced, and are coming into universal use on board ship, in which the steam is kept 
from sixty to seventy-five pou ds per square inch, and expaudedin the cylinders from 
ten to fourteen times. 

The form of boiler used for generating the steam differs from the variety so long 
employed in all European steamers. It is built with a cylindrical shell of from 9 to 
15 feet diameter, and of thickness from £ inch to 1J inches, according to the pressure to 
be carried. It is sometimes from 9 to 10 feet long, and is placed in the vessel ath wart- 
ships, with fire-rooms fore and aft in the ordinary way, and sometimes about IS feet 
l° n g> placed fore and aft and fired from either end. There are two or three cylindrical 
flues, according to diameter, in wh'cli are the grates, and above them a set of horizon- 
tal fire-tubes, through which the gases return to the front, thence to the funnel. This 
boiler is strong, of moderate cost, and geuerates steam freely and economically. 

The type of engine emp'oyed for working the steam is known as double -expansion 
or compound, the steam being admitted from the boilers first into a small high-press- 
ure cylinder, there expanded to a third or fourth of its original pressure, then passed 
through a receiver into a large or low-pressure cylinder, where, after propelling the 
piston to the end of the stroke, it is exhausted into the condenser. This system of 
working steam expansively was introduced by Woolf seventy years ago; but at that 
date steam was used at a very low pressure, and the project met with no success. For 
many succeeding years the subject was discussed and experimented upon by engineers, 
but no advantages over the ordinary method of working steam expansively in a single 
cylinder were reached until a talented engineer of Scotland, Mr. John Elder, proprie- 
tor of the Fairfield Works, near Glasgow, several years ago took up the subject, and, 
iu the face of immense opposition, zealously pursued it, designing and constructing 
every year several sets, each being more and more improved in desigu and detail, until 
they have been brought to the present state of perfection. 

Of the thirty-seven engineering works and iron-ship building-yards on the Clyde, 
the Fairfield Works is now the most extensive and important. At the time of my visit 
this firm had already completed one hundred and thirty pairs of marine compound 
engines, and accompanying boilers, and had then twenty-two pairs under construc- 
tion — all for ocean steamers ; besides, in their ship-yard, ten large iron vessels were on 
the blocks, four at the wharf being eugiued and completed, and orders were on hand 

3-27 



328 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

for others as soon as room could be made for them. This firm is justly regarded as the 
pioneer of the compound system, and their productions are accepted as the best types. 

The largest establishment on the river Tyne, " and, as a combination of engineering 
and manufacturing," the most extensive in Great Britain, the Palmer Company, had 
under construction about the same number of compound engines, two iron-clads for 
the British navy, and several other vessels. In short, all engineering works in Great 
Britain are now building their marine steam-machinery on the new system. These 
engines are also manufactured by Messrs. Schneider & Cie., at Creuzot, and M. Ma- 
zeline, at Havre, France. They are also built in Germany and in Belgium. Indeed, 
the success of the system is so certainly established that no European owner will now 
contract for an ocean steamer unless it is stipulated that she shall be propelled by 
compound machinery. 

Many commercial vessels containing very good machinery of the ordinary kind have 
been laid up, the machinery removed, and other machinery, on the new system, sub- 
stituted. An example of this came under my notice in the case of one of the West 
India mail screw-steamers — the Tasmania. This vessel, twelve years old, had the best 
machinery, with jet-condenser, at the date of construction ; with it fifty round trips 
had been made. All the machinery was then removed, and compound machinery sub- 
sti fcuted. At the date of my visit one round trip had been made with it, and an inspec- 
tion of the logs showed the average consumption of coal for the round trip with the 
old machinery to be three thousand tons, while the round trip with new machinery 
had been made with fourteen hundred and forty-five tons, the speed of vessel remaining 
the same. In some cases, such as that of the Ville de Paris and Pereire, of the French 
Atlantic line, both comparatively new ships and having excellent machinery, orders 
have been issued for its conversion by the addition of a third steam-cylinder, to be 
used for the admission of the high-pressure steam, the removal of the present boilers, 
and in lieu thereof high-pressure ones placed on board. 

The Cunard Company, the most conservative of all steamship owners, who were 
the last of the companies to substitute iron vessels for wooden vessels, who were the 
last to give up the paddle-wheels for the screw, are now the last to accept the com- 
pound engine and high-pressure steam in the vessels of their line in lieu of the old 
system. But in this, as in former cases, sharp competition of several lines has caused 
this company to convert the machinery of one of their vessels, and to place the new 
type, in two small vessels, the Batavia and Parthia ; besides, at the time of my visit, 
the models were being prepared for two vessels of dimensions larger than any now on 
the line, to be constructed and supplied with the compound type of machinery.* 

The British admiralty, charged with the administration of by far the largest and 
most powerful navy in the world, always cautious in the application of new inven- 
tions, rarely adopting any untried plans, but surely accepting the most successful in 
practical operation, have in this particular made the test of the new system by its ap- 
plication to two ordinary wooden vessels, the Tenedos and the Briton, of 1,331 and 1,261 
tons register, respectively. The success attending the trials of these two vessels 
justified them in ordering the third set for the Thetis ; also two other sets for the twin- 
screw iron-clads Hydra and Cyclops, all now under constructiou ; and although several 
iron-clads and unarmored vessels are being completed with the ordinary type of screw- 
machinery, ordered two or more years ago, all future ships constructed for the British 
navy will doubtless be engined on the new system. It is not probable, however, that 
any of their six hundred registered vessels will be ordered to undergo the process of 
alteration, because their cruising steamers are intended to be essentially sailing-ves- 
sels, and their steam-power is only used when the sails cannot be depended upon to 
accomplish the purpose required ; the cost, therefore, of the alteration from the old to 
the new machinery would be too great for the results desired to be obtained. 

The original cost of steam-machinery on the compound system, its total weight, and 
the space occupied by it in a vessel, does not materially differ from that of the ordinary 
type. The advantages are chiefly in the reduced consumption of fuel, less space for it on 
board, and smaller number of men required to handle it. These advantages have been 
found very great in commercial vessels making long passages, so great that the new 
type of machinery is as surely displacing the old on the ocean as the screw displaced 
the paddle, and surface-condensation displaced the old jet-condenser. In the two 
steamers of the British royal navy to which the compound engines have been applied 
and tested, and in the Atlantic steamers plyiog between New York and Liverpool, 
having this kind of machinery on board, the power developed is obtained with loss 
than two pounds of good English coal per horse-power per hour, or half the fuel for 
the same power developed under the system of non-expansion and jet-condensation. 
In other words, a steamer is propelled the same distance and at the same speed by coin- 
pound machinery with five hundred tons of coal, that required one thousand tons with 
the old type, and from thirty to forty per centum less than with the latest and best 
kind, baling surface-condensation and superheaters. 

The progress made in this direction, of economy in fuel, may be briefly noted in the 

* These two ships, since completed, are the Bothnia and Scythia. 






COMPOUND ENGINES. 329 

following facts : The paddle-wheel steamer Scotia, of the Cunard line, put afloat in 
16G2, and at that date regarded as the best and latest type of engineering skill, a ves- 
sel having a midship section of 841 square feet, consumed 160 tons of coal per day, or 
1,600 tons on the ten days' passage between New York and Liverpool. The City of 
Brussels, a screw-steamer of the Inman line, put afloat in 1869, and having a midship 
section of 709 square feet, consumed 95 tons per day, or 950 tons on the ten days' pas- 
sage. The Spain, a screw-steamer of the National line, put afloat in 1871 with com- 
pound machinery, and the largest ship on the Atlantic, having a length of 425 feet 6 
inches on the load-line, beam molded 43 feet, draught, loaded, 24 feet 9 inches, made 
the passage in September with 53 tons of coal per day, or 530 tons on the ten days' 
run ; all three vessels having the same average speed ; a small percentage only of the 
gain being due to the finer lines and proportions of the last-constructed vessels. 

The field of observations in this direction has been thoroughly gone over, the sub- 
ject carefully investigated, and the bureau is informed of the extent of European op- 
erations and results, of which a brief outline has been given. The information is 
positive, and there can be no hesitation in recommending that all cruising steamers 
for the Navy hereafter put afloat be engined on the compound system, and that all the 
steam-machinery stored in the navy-yards that cannot be used to advantage in the 
old vessels, or converted into compound, be disposed of by public sale, or broken up 
and used as old material ; and in view of the necessity of timely preparation, the bu- 
reau has taken steps for the execution of complete sets of working-drawings for ma- 
chinery of vessels on the stocks, and that will suit classes of vessels that may be de- 
signed as cruisers. It is not, however, recommended to remove the machinery from 
any of the old vessels for the purpose of replacing it by the new, except in cases where 
the repairs to the old shall be found so costly as to condemn it altogether ; for the ap- 
propriations are desired to be as small as compatible with the public interest, and the 
cost of alteration would be too great, considering the advantages desired to be gained 
under the regulations, of using sails as the motive power, except in cases of emergen- 
cies. 

Subsequent experience has still more firmly established the com- 
pound system. In European nations simple expansion engines for 
all commercial and naval vessels are now as obsolete as the paddle- 
wheel on the ocean. The records of the surveyor's office in London 
show that of the several hundred commercial sea-going vessels built 
in the United Kingdom since 1871, including one hundred and 
twenty-three under construction when the report of 1876 was received, 
all, excepting a very few for special purposes, have been engined 
on the compound system. Besides this, a large number of steamers, set 
afloat previous to the successful application of the compound engine 
on the ocean, have, since my last report, been docked, the engines and 
boilers removed to the scrap heap, and in lieu thereof compound ma- 
chinery erected on board ; a number of the vessels having the machinery 
so altered not being more than eight years old, and some only five years 
old. The steamers of the commercial fleet of Great Britain still retain- 
ing the old types of engines and boilers, retain them because the ves- 
sels cannot be spared from employment sufficiently long to remove the 
old machinery and substitute the new, or because the vessels are not worth 
the expense of the change. So far has this system of compounding the 
machinery of old vessels been carried, or, more properly, of substituting 
the compound for the simple type, that for vessels of 1,000 tons and 
under, the proprietors of several engineering works have built in antici- 
pation, and retained on hand to a considerable extent, compound en- 
gines and accompanying boilers suitable for vessels probably requiring 
them, and in many cases they have contracted for and accomplished 
the feat of removing the old machinery and erecting on board the new 
in ten days' time. Many of the old channel, coast, and river steamers 
of England still retain their old machinery, for the reasons above stated. 
Some, however, have been altered ; one of them a paddle-steamer, the 
ITo//, in which I chanced to make a passage from Havre to Southamp- 
ton. This vessel has a length of 250 feet, breadth 27 feet, and draws !) 
feet of water. She was furnished originally with the old type of in- 
clined engines, jet-condensers and box-boilers, carrying 30 pounds press- 



330 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

ure of steam. For eight years she made the passage regularly between 
Havre and Southampton, of eighteen hours, on 48 tons of coal for the 
round trip. Two years ago these engines were compounded, and cylin- 
drical boilers, carrying 60 pounds pressure of steam, substituted for the 
old ones. The results of this change were increased speed and an aver- 
age consumption of coal for each round trip of 28 tons. Many other 
cases could be cited, but it is believed to be sufficient to state that 
Lloyd's inspecting engineer's books show the saving of fuel resulting 
from compounding engines of British steamers to be from 30 to 40 per 
•cent. 

One of the steamship companies visited, having steamers that make 
long passages, was the Eoyal Mail. This company owned in 1876 twenty- 
four steamers, eighteen of which are engined on the compound system, 
three still retain the old type of engines, and three have been altered 
from the old to the new system, with an average gain in fuel of 40 per 
cent. The Moselle, a vessel of this line, to which my attention was called 
as one economical in fuel, has a length of 376 feet, breadth of 40 feet, 
and a draught of water of 21 feet. She was built by Elder & Co. in 1873. 
The engines are of the inverted vertical compound type, with a high- 
pressure cylinder of 60J inches and low-pressure of 112 inches in diame- 
ter, having a stroke of 4 feet. The boilers are cylindrical, and the 
pressure of steam is 60 pounds to the square inch. This vessel is on the 
West India line ; the distance steamed for each round voyage is 10,000 
miles, the average speed 12 knots, and the average consumption of coal 
40 tons per day of 24 hours. 

NAVAL COMPOUND ENGINES. 

It has been seen that as early as 1871 the British admiralty, though 
always cautious in the application of new inventions, had set afloat two 
corvettes engined on the compound system, and that the same type of 
engines were under construction for three other vessels. About this 
time a special committee on the designs of ships of war, consisting of 
sixteen of the most distinguished naval officers, naval architects, and 
engineers in the kingdom, were holding their sessions in London. In 
1872 their voluminous report was presented to Parliament, and the fol- 
lowing is an extract from all that part of the report relating to com- 
pound engines : 

* * * The carrying-power of ships may certainly be to some extent increased by 
the adoption of compound engines into Her Majesty's service. We are aware that this 
modification of the ordinary marine engine has not escaped the notice of the construct- 
ive department of the navy, and that some few of Her Majesty's ships have been so 
fitted ; but its ue e has recently become very general in the mercantile marine, and the 
weight of evidence in favor of the large economy of fuel thereby gained is, to our 
minds, overwhelming and conclusive. It is unnecessary for us to say that in designing 
a ship, economy of fuel may mean either thicker armor, greater speed, a smaller and 
cheaper ship, or the power of moving under steam alone for an increased period, ac- 
cording to the service which the ship is intended to perform. We beg leave, therefore, 
earnestly to recommend that the use of compound engines may be geuerally adopted 
in ships of war hereafter to be constructed ; and applied, whenever it can be done 
with due regard to economy and to the convenience of the service, to those already 
built. 

Since the date of this recommendation, viz, 1872, and up to 1877, there 
have been designed and ordered to be constructed nine armored ships 
of large size ; twenty-three unarmored corvettes ; twelve unarmored sloops ; 
tw T o armed dispatch-vessels ; one troop ship, and twenty-eight gunboats, 
besides several vessels designed but not ordered to be built. All of 
these vessels, excepting a very few of the gunboats, have been or are 






COMPOUND ENGINES. 331 

being engined on the compound system. The excepted gunboats re- 
ferred to have been supplied with simple expansive engines, carrying tbe 
same pressures of steam on the boilers, viz, from 60 to 70 pounds per 
square inch. 

The British admiralty have not 'converted the engines of any war- 
vessels, for the reason previously stated, but some of the troop-ships 
employed in making long passages to India, and as a consequence using 
coal in large quantities, have been converted — one, the Euphrates, 
built and engined by the Laird Bros, ten years ago, at a cost for tbe 
machinery of $364,500. Though the machinery was in all respects in 
good order, it was removed to the scrap-heap in 1876, and compound 
engines and accompanying boilers substituted by the same firm at a 
cost of 8267,300 and the old machinery. The Euphrates is of 6,211 tons 
displacement and 5,000 indicated horse-power. 

The compound system was introduced and adopted in the national 
navy of France after its success was established in the British navy ; 
and I was informed at the engineering department of the ministre de la 
marine in Paris that no ships are now built or ordered to be built for 
the French navy with other than compound machinery. 

In the Italian navy one ship, the Duilio, building at Oastellamare, is 
being engined with Penn's old type of machinery. This machinery was 
ordered before the Italian naval authorities felt sure of the success of 
the compound system, but all other new vessels are being fitted with 
compound engines; and it is quite certain that all vessels for this navy 
hereafter ordered to be built will be engined on the new system. 

In the German imperial navy the compound system is in use, and, 
as far as I was able to learn, it is also in use in all other continental 
navies, as well as in the vessels of the commercial marine of every 
country. 

If our naval vessels, built since the successful introduction of the 
compound engine in foreign navies, had been engined with the old 
types of machinery, we should have been regarded, both at home and 
abroad, as being far behind the times in steam-engineering; and the 
very officers who have raised objections to the compound engine for 
naval vessels would doubtless have been the first to denounce the 
Engineering Department as being uninformed and incompetent for the 
responsible duties of construction. 

If objection to the compound system is based on the necessarily 
higher pressure of steam used than formerly, it may be stated in reply 
that the working pressure of steam has gradually risen from about five 
pounds per square inch, as at first introduced on board ship, to 80 
pounds per square inch. Also, that in all the gunboats employed on 
the Western rivers during the civil war, about 140 pounds pressure per 
square inch was used. 

The objection to high-pressure steam on board fighting-ships is said 
to be the increased danger to life in the event of a projectile piercing a 
boiler during an engagement. Now, all experience in boiler explosions, 
that of the Thunderer included, has proved that no persons can breathe 
steam, at whatever pressure it may escape from the boiler in which it 
was contained, and live. If, therefore, a boiler having a pressure of 80 
pounds per square inch should be penetrated, the result would be the 
same as if the pressure had been only 20 pounds, viz, probable death 
to the engineers and meu employed in and near the tire rooms, but to 
none others necessarily. 

To meet the objections raised by some British naval officers against 
going into battle with steam in the boilers of their ships at high pressure, 



332 EUKOPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

the engines of the Iris, and other vessels recently built, have been pn> 
vided with valves so adjusted as to let the steam on direct to all the 
pistons, and to allow the exhaust steam from the high-pressure cylinders 
to pass directly to the condensers, and by this means reduce the press- 
ures in the boilers to 4 or 5 pounds above the atmosphere, when so 
desired. But in this case what becomes of the power required for 
maneuvering, for ramming, or for choosing the position from which to 
fight? 

COMPARATIVE MERITS OF THE SIMPLE AND COMPOUND 

ENGINE. 

I have previously stated that many experiments had been made to 
test the relative merits of the compound engine, and the simple engine 
working high-pressure steam. It is quite unnecessary to go into any 
lengthened statement or detail of these experiments. Many of them 
have been published in full and are familiar to the engineering profes- 
sion. I shall therefore refer only to those made by the British admiralty, 
and to the more important and expensive experiment of the Allan line 
of steamers. 

In 1874 two gunboats for the royal navy were built. One, the 
Sivinger, was supplied with simple engines, and the other, the Goshawk 
with compound engines. The same kind of boilers and the same press- 
ure of steam was used in each case, and the indicated horse-power was 
to be the same in both, viz, 360. The limited trials made with these 
boats were at the time published, and as different opinions existed as to 
the merits of the two systems for small vessels with low power, it was 
decided to supply three others ordered to be built, after the same fash- 
ion. Accordingly the Sheldrake and the Moorhen were fitted with sim- 
ple expansion engines, and the Mallard with compound engines. These 
vessels are composite gunboats. The two former were eugined by 
Messrs. Napier & Sons, and the latter by Earle's Engineering Com- 
pany at Hull. The boilers in all are practically identical. They are cy- 
lindrical, each containing two cylindrical furnaces 2 feet 6 inches in diam- 
eter and 4 feet 6 inches long. These two furnaces terminate in a common 
combustion chamber 3 feet 2 inches deep. The tubes do not return over 
the furnaces, but are continued from the combustiou -chamber to the 
smoke-box at the forward end of the boiler, the boilers beiug placed in 
a fore-and-aft direction. On the top of the combustion-chamber, between 
the ends of the furnaces and the tubes, is suspended a bridge, which 
deflects the flame and heated gases before they enter the tubes, and the 
use of which has been attended with satisfactory results. The engines 
of the Sheldrake and Moorhen are simple expansion engines, direct-acting, 
the connecting-rocls working between the cylinders and the cranks; 
expansion-valves, capable of cutting off the steam as early as one-fif- 
teenth of the stroke, are fitted on the backs of the main slide. 

The experiments above named were with small vessels, in which either 
system of working the steam will answer the purpose. I am not aware 
of any large sea-going vessel with screw-propeller, and as a consequence 
short-stroke engines, in which the simple engine using high-pressure 
steam has been successful. The most expensive and notable attempt 
to realize the benefits of the compound system by the simple engine at 
sea was made three years ago by the proprietors of the Allan line of 
steamers. This company made the comparative test on a large scale. 
Two ships were built, the one fitted with compound engines and the 
other with simple expansive engines. The boilers were identically alike, 



COMPOUND ENGINES. 333 

made from the same drawings, having the same grate and heating sur- 
face, and the same pressure of steam was used in each vessel. 

I have not at command all of the details of these ships, nor all of the 
results of the performances at se i, but I received from the designer of 
the machinery the following particulars: 



Name of skip, Circassian. 
Length, 360 feet. 
Breadth, 40 feet. 

Draught of water, mean, 23 feet. 
Kind of engines, non-compound. 
Number of cylinders, 2. 
Diameter of cylinders, 62 inches. 
Stroke, 4 feet. 
Number of boilers, 10. 
Number of furnaces, 20. 
Pressure of steam, 60 pounds. 



Name of ship, Polynesia. 
Length, 400 feet. 
Breadth, 42 feet. 

Draught of water, 2o feet 6 inches. 
Kind of engines, compound. 
Number of cylinders, 4 (two high and two 

low pressure). 
Diameter, high-pressure, 43 inches. 
Diameter, low-pressure, 80f inches. 
Stroke, 4 feet. 
Number of boilers, 10. 
Number of furnaces, 20. 
Pressure of steam, 60 pounds. 

The expansion-valves were fitted in the simple engines to work the 
steam, when desired, to the same degree of expansion as in the com- 
pound engines. The workmanship and materials were equally good, 
and the parts equally strong, in each set of engines. The two ships 
were put on the line between Liverpool and Quebec, Canada; and, as 
was anticipated, the results as to economy of fuel were not materially 
different, about two pounds of good Welsh coal per indicated horse- 
power per hour being expended in each ship. This satisfactory result, 
however, soon found an offset in the shape of unexpected difficulties 
with the simple engine, consequent upon the serious shocks resulting 
from the rapidly-varying pressures on the crank-pins. So serious were 
these, that not only the crank-shaft, but also the stationary parts of the 
engines, began at an early day to show signs of weakness, and in a short 
time gave out altogether. The superintending engineer of the company 
was the designer of the machinery, and it was only after his skill and 
efforts failed to keep the ship running, that he reluctantly decided to 
remove the engines and to substitute compound engines in their stead. 
The engines substituted had a pair of vertical inverted cylinders, with 
a diameter for the high pressure of 55 inches, and for the low pressure 
of 92 inches. 

The performance of the Polynesia was satisfactory from the first, the 
voyages never having been interrupted ; and the performance of the 
Circassian has also been satisfactory since the substitution in her of the 
compound engines for the simple ones. 

In so far as simple expansion is concerned, it is not of consequence 
whether it takes place in one cylinder or in several ; or, as Professor 
Kankine says : 

The energy exerted by a given portion of a fluid during a given series of changes of 
pressure and volume depends ou that series of changes, and not on the number and 
arrangement of the cylinders in which those changes are undergone. The advantages 
of employing the compound engine are connected with those causes which make the 
actual indicated work of the steam fall short of its theoretical amount, and also with 
the strength of the engine and its framing, the steadiness of action, aud the friction 
of its mechanism. 

The economy of working steam many times expanded may be readily 
seen when it is stated that a decrease of one-hall' pound of coal per 
horse-power per hour may give, on a large trans- Atlantic steamer, a sav- 
ing of about four hundred tons of coal for a single round voyage. 

This economy is obtainable only by using steam of high pressures, 
whether it be worked in a compound engine with its divided expansion, 



334 EUROPEAN SHIP3 OF WAR, ETC. 

or in a single-cylinder engine with its irregular strains. As yet, by no- 
satisfactory device except compounding have great expansion and con- 
sequent economy of fuel been obtained at sea. 

In the face of these facts, further discussion on the subject of adopt- 
ing the compound engine for the vessels of our own Navy is as useless 
as would be a discussion of the relative merits of the screw-propeller 
and paddle-wheel for ships of war.* 

PERFORMANCE OF COMPOUND ENGINES. 

The following paper, read at the Institution of Naval Architects, in 
London, last year (1877), by the well-known mechanical eugineer, Mr. 
J. II. Ravenhill, gives some interesting statistics relating to the per- 
formance of compound engines of British construction : 

# * * # Since 1871 the introduction of the compound engine into our commer- 
cial fleet has been very great and very rapid ; the Liverpool Red Book shows on the 
figures being abstracted that the total number of screw-steamers fitted with compound 
engines is as follows : 

Table III. 

Total amount of nonii- 
No. of vessels, rial horse-pi-wer. 

For the year 1871-72 849 133,547 

For the year 1876-77 2,705 436,041 



Giving as the increase in the horse-power during the five years 302, 494 

In looking through the register one could not fail to remark the large application of 
the compound engines to small vessels engaged in the coasting trade or in short sea 
voyages, some of them with less horse power than 90 horses; but between 90 horse - 

* With regard to this and the rest of Mr. King's remarks upon the comparative 
merits of simple aud compound engines, it is worthy of note that the engines of the 
Northampton, which have recently been tried at their full power of 6,000 horses as 
simple expansive engines, have given most satisfactory results, and have developed 
none of the extraordinary phenomena exhibited by the engines of the Circassian. 
The knocks and shocks in those engines, attributed by Mr. Kiug to the varying press- 
ure, were due, as is pretty well known, to the inefficient action of the Corliss valve- 
gear as applied in this case. Putting together the remarkably smooth and regular 
working of the Northampton's engines and the acknowledged economy of the engiues 
of the Circassian over long sea voyages, we cannot at all concur in Mr. Kiug's sweep- 
ing condemnation of simple expansive engines for war and for commerce. Besides 
the engines of the Ajax and the Agamemnon for the British navy, each intended to be 
worked as simple engines at their full power of 6,000 horses, Messrs. Penn have re- 
cently received orders for engines of the same type for the Italian Government, which 
will develop a power never before even approached on shipboard. Again, in a paper 
read during the present session of the Institute of Civil Engineers, Mr. Alfred Holt, the 
well known ship-owner and engineer, himself the originator of one of the most suc- 
cessful types of compound marine engine, expressed the view that, notwithstanding 
the universal adoption at present of the compound engine at sea, the reintroductiou 
of improved simple expansive engines for commercial ships may yet be found desira- 
ble. The full discussion the subject has received in this country has recently led to 
the adoption in the British navy of means for enabling the compound engine to b« 
worked as a simple engine when occasion requires; aud the more glaring defects of 
the commercial type of compound engine for purposes of war have thus been to some 
extent neutralized. — An English Naval Architect. 

The engines of the Northampton and other naval vessels mentioned, are designed to 
work as compouud engines primarily and under normal conditions — as simple ones 
only exceptionally and for a short time; it is intended further, in the latter ease, to 
work steam of very low pressure in all the cylinders — a concession to the danger of 
shot piercing the boilers in action. That the engiues of the Northampton have given 
satisfactory results at a short trial, proves nothing for their capability of endurance 
for such lengths of time as the Circassian steamed, and with the same high initial press- 
ure. By the way, the effect of a particular valve-gear upon the shock in the main 
shaft-bearings of an engine is not apparent. The testimony of present facts is a thou- 
sand-fold in favor of the compound engii e ; what the future may bring forth is matter 
of speculation. — J. W. K. 






COMPOUND ENGINES. 335 

power and 99 horse-power I found the increase worthy of special notice, as the follow- 
ing table shows : 

Table IV. 

Number of vessels having compound engines of — 

1871-72. 1876-77. 

90 horse-power 61 188 

91 horse-power 3 

92 horse-powf r 1 1 

93 horse-power 1 

94 horse-power 2 

95 horse-power 26 56 

96 horse-power 16 24 

97 horse-power 1 i 

98 horse-power 62 139 

99 horse-power 57 124 

Total 221 539 

Increase, 315. 

It is not my intention to do other than thus make passing allusion to wh it I have 
heard happily spoken of as the "Mystic Nines," but the number of vessels with 100 
horse-power stood only in these respective years at twelve and fifty-three. The most 
general form of compound engine is the one having two cylinders of the ordinary 
inverted type, one small and one large, side by side, the cranks standing at an 
angle of ninety degrees to each other, and the air-pumps being worked by beams, not- 
withstanding that those fitted with three cylinders — one high-pressure cylinder and 
two low-pressure — standing in a similar way, and those with four cylinders, the small 
ones being placed above the large ones, as well as those with two cylinders only of the 
same construction, are each reported on favorably by their respective partisans ; but 
in the first-named class, which possesses some advantages possibly over the other three, 
the large diameter of 120 inches has been reached in the low-pressure cylinder, with a 
length of stroke of 5 feet ; and although the reintroduction of loose liners is opportune 
in reducing the risk of casting them, and being in themselves easy of renewal in the 
event of undue wear taking place, the action of the weight of such large pistons in 
vessels rolling at sea must at times prove detrimental to their full efficiency, in conse- 
quence of the Habilitj T of the piston packing-springs to yield, and thus allow the pis- 
tons to leak. I do not, therefore, anticipate seeing any material increase in diameter 
to those now at work being proposed. I need scarcely add that all classes are fitted 
with expansion-valves. The present practice-, as regards the multiple of the cylinders, 
appears to be generally to make them three to one, but the Liverpool and Great West- 
ern Steamship Company, Guion Line, adopted, in the case of the Dakota and Montana, 
a proportion of 6.21 to 1. Their original intention was to work at a pressure of 115 
pounds to the square inch, and I make this passing allusion to them, not only because 
they proposed both a higher pressure and a higher rate of expansion than anything be- 
fore attempted, but were the first owners who introduced on a large scale the water- 
tube boiler as a marine boiler ; and while we may regret the failure of their endeavors, 
we cannot but admire the boldness which led to the introduction of such machinery. 
I gather from the Registers of Shipping of 1876, periodically corrected up to a recent 
date, that the Pacific Steam Navigation Company has thirty-four vessels fitted with 
compound engines ; the Peninsular and Oriental Company, thirty ; the Royal Mail 
Steam Packet Company, fifteen ; the National Company, nine ; the Oceanic, or " White 
Star," nine ; the Guion Line, Great Western, four ; the Inman Steamship Company, 
four ; working at pressures varying from 40 pounds to 80 pounds on the square inch. 
In Table No. V. may be seen the results obtained from vessels A, B, C, D, E, steaming 
over many thousand miles on their several stations, each of them masted and rigged 
on the most approved plan for making the fullest effective use of its sail-power when- 
ever it can be beneficially employed, and all burniug, as far as it lies in their power, 
the description of coal that experience has shown to be the most advantageous ; and 
here let me incidentally mention that many owners are directing their attention most 
closely to having an accurate entry kept in the log-book of the number of hours their 
vessels are under canvas and the number and description of the sails set. 



336 



EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 













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COMPOUND ENGINES. 337 

In Table V. the Deccan is included as the letter C. Her performances we have had 
before us on a previous occasion, but I have thought it as well to introduce her for 
purposes of comparison. I have also adopted the formula introduced by Mr. De Rus- 
sett and his paper on the lengthening of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's ship 
Poonah, read at our last annual session, without offering any opinion as to its correct- 
ness or otherwise. The percentage of merit thus shown as obtained in cases where no 
alteration has taken place in the form of the vessels I take to mean a percentage of 
commercial merit, that is, the comparative commercial advantages obtained on every 
ton of coal expended in the use of compound engines on the present system over ordi- 
nary jet-condenser engines working with 20-ponnd or 30-pound pressure on their 
boilers. The first vessel, A, comparatively of small dimensions, is one of the few in- 
stances in which owners, on making the chauge to compound engines, have reduced 
the speed of their ships; and, although this performance shows an improved co-effi- 
cient of commercial merit in favor of the compound engine of 52.3 per cent., some 
deduction would have to be made for the extra expenses of the ship's crew, &c, in 
consideration of such a reduction. All the other examples show an increase of speed 
with an improved co-efficient of commercial merit, the difference in the value of the 
co-efficients in the case of B and D being the most marked of any that have come 
under my notice; but, passing on, I am desirous of drawing your attention very par- 
ticularly to tbe performance of the vessels F and G at sea in the following : 

Table VI. 



Length between perpendiculars 358 ft. 2 in. I 413 ft. 

Breadth 41 ft. ! 41 ft. 7 in. 

Depth ] 33 ft. Gin. ' 27 ft. 4 in. 

Gross registered tonnage 3, 252 3, 130 

Total distance run at sea 55,963 34,252 

Total hours under weigh 4,967 3.131 

Average speed in knots per hour 11.11 10.94 

Total coals consumed in tons 7, 604 4, 775 

Consumption of coals per day in tons 36 36.6 

Average mean draught of water 21 ft. 9 in. 20 ft. 4in. 

Area of midship section in square feet j 760. 28 ! 639 

Displacement in tons I 4, 925 4. 632 

Coefficient of merit per Mr. De Russett's formula | 2, 042. 6 1. 917. 6 

i I 

The above performances were stated by the owners to represent their best type of 
ship at the present time ; and, in addition, Table VII. shows their relative performances 
at the measured-mile trials. The results are as follows : 

Table VII. 



Average speed in knots per hour 

Mean draught 

Area in midship section in square feet 

Displacement in tons 

Indicated horsepower 

Diameter of screw 

Pitch 

Revolutions per minute 

Pressure on boilers : 

Diameter of cylinder (small) 

Diameter of cylinder (large) 

Proportion of cylinders 

Length of stroke 

Coefficient of performance as per Admiralty displacement formula, ! 
speed 3 X displacement 5 , .. 

LEP. ~ M 



F. 


o. 


14.81 


13. 953 


19 ft. Sin. 


17 ft. 9.5 in. 


674. 06 


524. 7 


4,310 


3, 970 


3, 245. 3 


2,590 


18 ft. 


17 ft. 6 in. 


26 ft. 


25 


61. 75 


63 


55 


65 


B0. 5 


56 


112 


97 


3. 26 to I 


3 to 1 


4 ft. in. 


1 ft. 6 in. 



262. 1 



The best Welsh coal is used on board both at sea, but the services on which they 
are employed are very different, as is also their rig. It is admitted that F can make 
the better use of her canvas. Doubtless some of the &£ per cent, is to be found here. 
In these cases I have no percentage of improvement to show, but their coefficients of 
commercial merit are very satisfactory, and are higher, you will notice, than any 
obtained in the compounded vessels in Table V. It is a striking example of how 
22 K 



338 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

closely results approximate in vessels designed by our leading naval architects, having 
their machinery supplied by our best engineering firms. And in obtaining these re- 
sults the naval architect deserves his share of credit equally with the marine engineer, 
for while the latter is strenuously endeavoring to improve his machinery, the former 
spares no effort on his part in bringing science to bear so to apportion the use of the 
material in the hull as to obtain the maximum of strength with the minimum of 
weight, with the object of improving the design of his vessel. But while these per- 
formances show very conclusively the advantages obtained by the introduction of the 
compound engine, I do not find any reduction in the coal consumed per indicated 
horse-power per hour, reliably recorded, below the figures we heard of as far back as 
1871, viz, 1.75 pound. The relative consumption of coal is now so closely criticised 
by engineers, and the difference in some cases so small, that the condition of the indi- 
cator used and the aptitude of the engineer who takes the diagram become matters of 
serious consideration, and I believe the total consumption of coal in tons will continue 
to be the test most preferred by owners. The great question with them is to ascertain 
how much cargo in cubic contents or dead weight can be carried over a given 
distance at a certain speed for a certain weight of coal. This weight to them is a 
known money value, seriously affecting their pockets, the indicated effects on which 
they thoroughly understand. It is their commercial diagram, and most of them prefer 
the study of this rather than the indicator diagram forwarded to them from the 
engine-room. While the older companies and steamship-owners are thus deriv- 
ing benefit from the great reduction in the consumption of coal above recorded, 
new companies have been able to commence other service which a few years back 
would have never been attempted.* At the commencement of the present Holyhead 
mail service in 1860, I heard many well-known officers prognosticate that the service 
must be accompanied by considerable risks and dangers through collisions, but no such 
accident has occurred during the seventeen years the service has been regularly per- 
formed day and night in all weather, and some of them have lived to see the Atlantic 
crossed to and fro at an average speed of over 15 knots an hour during a period of 
twelve months. Never has there been a stronger proof as regards the saying that 
" circumstances make men," and great credit accrues to all parties engaged in such per- 
formances. The Inman Steamship Company have two large steamers running between 
Liverpool and New York. But taking them as a fleet, there is nothing that will com- 
pare with the Oceanic or White Star Line. This fleet consists of nine vessels with 
machinery all on the compound principle. Their large vessels, from 600 horse-power 
upward, have the four-cylinder engine of the vertical type, with a working pressure 
of steam from 65 pounds to 70 pounds, the stroke being 5 feet. These vessels deserv- 
edly hold the pride of place for their speed maintained as ocean-going steamers between 
Liverpool and. New York. The Britannic is recorded as having made the shortest 
homeward passage yet known, in December, 1876, having run the distance, 2,882 knots, 
from Sandy Hook to Queenstown in seven days twelve hours forty-one minutes, at au 
average speed of 15.95 knots per hour, while the shortest recorded outward voyage has 
been made by the Germanic in April last, when she performed the passage in seven 
daj's eleven hours thirty-seven minutes, running over a distance of 2,830 knots, at a 
speed of 15.75 knots per hour ; the mean speed of these two voyages is 18.459 statute 
miles per hour. The difference in the distances run in the outward and homeward 
voyages is 52 knots, a distance something shorter than the length of the passage be- 
tween Holyhead and Kingstown. The service of the company between Liverpool and 
New York is performed by six vessels, and Table VIII. shows the performances of the 
Britannic on eleven voyages, from June, 1876, to June, 1877. You will observe that 
the average indicated horse-power is recorded at 4,900, with 52.3 revolutions per 
minute, and the copies of indicator diagrams * * * * * * have been handed 
to me as a fair average performance of her machinery. The Britannic is of the follow- 
ing dimensions: Length between perpendiculars, 455 feet; breadth, extreme, 45 feet 2 
inches; depth, 33 feet 7 inches; gross register tonnoge, 5,004. She is fitted with four 
masts, was built by Messrs. Harland & Wolf, of Belfast, and has engines by Messrs. 
Maudslay, Sons & Field, of London. Four cylinders, two large and two small. 
Diameter of small cylinders, 48 inches; diameter of large cylinders, 83 inches; length 
of stroke, 5 feet. 

* Since this paper was in type the arrival of the Lusitania has been announced from 
Melbourne in thirty-nine days from London. — [Note by Mr. Raveniiill.] 



COMPOUND ENGINES. 339 

Table VIII. — Performances of steamship Britannic, of the White Star Line, United States 
mail steamers, from Liverpool to New York, on eleven voyages, from June, 1876, to June, 
1877, inclusive. 

Total distance 64,230 knots. 

Totalnumber of hours under weigh „ 4,269 hours. 

Total coals consumed 18,214 tons. 

Average speed per hour 15.045 knots. 

Average coal consumption per day of twenty-four hours 101.932 tons. 

Average mean draught of water 23 feet 7 inches. 

Area of midship section at 23.7 feet draught 926 square feet. 

Displacement at 23.7 feet draught 8,500 tons. 

Diameter of propeller 23 feet 6 inches. 

Pitch of propeller 31 feet 6 inches. 

Surface of propeller 128 square feet. 

Average number of revolutions 52.3 per minute. 

Average working pressure in boilers 65 pounds. 

Average indicated horse-power 4,900. 

Average consumption per indicated horse-power 1.94 pound. 

Average per knot 5 cwt. 

Average per hour . # 4.25 tons. 

Average per furnace per hour , 2.67 cwt. 

S. GORDON HORSBURGH, 

Siijpt. Engineer. 

The figures require no comment from me further than that I have been requested to 
draw your particular attention to the small amount of indicated horse-power exerted 
in proportion to the displacement of tonnage of the ship at this high velocity. By way 
of comparison, I introduced the following particulars of the Great Western steamship 
the first vessel that earned a great name in trans-Atlantic voyages : 

Table IX. — Great Western steamship. 

Name of builder Patterson. 

Where built Bristol. 

Date of launch 1837. 

Wood or iron Wood. 

Length 212 feet between perpendiculars. 

Beam 35 feet 4 inches. 

Depth 23 feet 2 inches. 

Tonnage 1,340 tons builders' measurement. 

Name of engineers Messrs. Maudslay, Sons & Field. 

Horse-power (nominal) 420. 

Type of engine Side lever. 

Size of cylinders 74 inches diameter. 

Stroke 7 feet. 

Paddle-wheels 28 feet diameter. 

Paddle-wheels 28 common floats 1.10 wide. 

Number of revolutions per minute From 10 to 18. 

Boilers Four, iron, return-flue. 

Steam-pressure 5 pounds per square inch. 

Average time of voyage between Liverpool and 

New York About 15 days. 

Date of ship's decease Broken up in 1856. 

The average length of voyage of the Great Western appears to have beeu about fif- 
teen days from Liverpool to New York. In forty years we have thus seen the time 
between these two ports practically reduced one-half— another proof, if one is required, 
of the progress made in steam navigation. 

The books of Lloyd's Kegister in London showed that in July last 
(1877), there were building in the United Kingdom two hundred and 
twenty-five pairs of marine engines, all on the compound system, to carry 
pressures of steam in the boilers from 60 to 90 pounds per square inch. 



IPJLIR/T XXII 



HAEIXE BOILEES. 

CORROSION OF MARINE BOILERS; PRESERVATION OF BOILERS 
IN HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S VESSELS; WATER-TUBE BOIL- 
ERS; EXPLOSION OF THE BOILER OF THE THUNDERER; 
BOILERS OF THE MERCANTILE MARINE; HIGH PRESSURE 
SAFETY-VALVE; LLOYD'S RULES AND FORMULA FOR BOIL- 
ERS; RULES OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. 



341 



CORROSION OF MARINE BOILERS. 



This subject has attracted the attention of engineers, ship-owners, 
and chemists in England from the time of the introduction of the sur- 
face-condenser up to the present day. Much diversity of opinion has 
always existed as to the exact nature of the action which, accompany- 
ing surface condensation, destroys the boiler plates so rapidly and so 
curiously. Most of the various explanations which have been given 
attribute the process of deterioration to galvanic action arising from 
passiug the repeatedly distilled water over large surfaces of copper or 
brass tubes, but the tinning of condenser-tubes and the substitution 
of iron boiler-tubes and pipes in. place of brass or copper has not ar- 
rested it. It has been attributed to the corrosive action of certain acids 
arising from the decomposition of the lubricants ; but such action is too 
limited to do the mischief, and even where little, if any, lubricant has 
been used in the cylinders, the results have been the same. Many pana- 
ceas have been proposed, from time to time, to cure the malady, such 
as the injection of solutions of soap and soda, of muriatic acid, &c. 
Much was at one time expected as the result of the simple plan of plac- 
ing plates of zinc at different points in each boiler. The corrosion was, 
it was stated, confined to the zinc, while the iron of the boilers escaped. 
The zinc-cure was reported in some cases to have been an advantage, 
while in other cases it appears to have been entirely inoperative. The 
use of strainers or filters, by which grease was taken out of the feed- 
water, was also held to be a remedy, but this scheme, like many others, 
died a natural death. In fact, many cases are known where boilers 
working with engines into the cylinders of which no lubricant whatever 
was admitted, decayed just as rapidly as though oil or tallow had been 
admitted, and others in which all the remedies referred to were applied 
have also met the same fate. The profession now seem inclined to ac- 
count for the corrosion by the action of the redistilled sea-water itself; 
and this view seems to be substantially confirmed by the Perkins sys- 
tem, where it is seen that a boiler thirteen years in constant daily work- 
ing, using pure rain-water over and over again, without change for all 
of that time, is found to be in a good state of preservation. This case, 
with many other well-authenticated instances which came under my 
notice, seems to establish the fact that the evil must be attributed to the 
use over and over again of distilled sea-water, and that no remedy, 
except that of changing the water in the boilers at frequent intervals, 
has been fouud effective. It has been believed by marine engineers 
that the formation of scale on the surfaces of the iron protects it from 
corrosion, but more recent evidence has been produced that the protec- 
tion is not due to the scale, but to the condition of the water. The cir- 
cumstance that scale is found on the iron is simply evidence that the 
water has been kept in such a condition that it would not cause corro- 
sion, and that is all the scale has to do with the matter. Very many 
illustrations of the proof as to changing the water being the sure remedy 
were found; among them were noted, as a comparison, two ships of the 
same size in the royal navy serving on the same station at the same 
time. They were paid off and recom missioned at the same period. In 

343 



344 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

one ship the water had been used in the boilers over and over again; in 
the other the feed- water had been mixed largely with sea-water. The 
boilers of the former had been found free from scale, but so completely 
deteriorated as to be useless. Those of. the latter had a scale formed 
on the plates, but the boilers were found in excellent preservation. The 
experience of many intelligent engineers has been presented on the sub- 
ject, among the most important of which is that of Mr. Milan, read be- 
fore the Cleveland Iron-Trade Association. The following is an extract : 

I may begin this paper by stating that what data I shall have the pleasure of laying 
before you, as to the corrosion of boiler-plates when generating steam from distilled or 
redistilled water, will be generally such as has resulted from my personal observation. 
Much of it will doubtless be familiar enough to those whose professional experience 
has included the management of boilers while working in conjunction with surface- 
condensers. In the earlier days of the practical application of these condensers (I 
refer to fifteen or sixteen years ago), you must be aware that engineers were often 
driven to their " wit's end " in striving to account for or to arrest the extraordinary and 
insidious decay which was steadily and rapidly consuming their boilers before their 
eyes, while yet there was no recognized means of preventing it. And, indeed, up to 
the present time, although we have, by a primitive and withal a make-shift expedient, 
been able in great measure to mitigate the evil, I am not aware that the light of sci- 
entific research has yet been brought to bear upon the subject with a view to deter- 
mine the nature or cause of the action itself, or to devise any means of counteracting it. 

Fully a decade of years has passed since the writer first endeavored to ventilate this 
question by introducing it to the notice of gentlemen whose social and professional 
positions and interests warranted him in assuming that they would have influenced 
scientific inquiry in respect to the question. More recently I have tried to set forth 
the necessity for immediate and decisive action in the matter. 

The decay of boilers in Her Majesty's ships has been so extraordinary eiuce the intro- 
duction of surface-condensers that the officers have been greatly exercised in regard 
to it. Iu spite of all their care the decay has gone on silently and certainly ; boilers 
have become disabled after a few years' service, and it became evident that the causes 
baffled discovery and remedy in the ordinary course of duty. So impressed were the 
admiralty with the vital importance of the subject, and with the futility of trusting 
to experience alone to find a way out of the difficulty, that about two years ago they 
appointed a committee to inquire into the boiler management of ships in commission 
and in the reserve, the nature and extent of the decay of boilers, and to ascertain, if 
possible, what are the causes and what the remedies. This committee consists of two 
executive officers, two engineers, and one chemist. Their labors have been directed 
to the examination of boilers in shii>s arriving from different seas of the world and in 
different stages of condition or decay ; also in experimenting at the dock-yards. 

The report of this committee is looked for by the naval and commer- 
cial services with unusual interest, but has not yet been received ; and 
the voluminous evidence, comprising more than eight hundred pages, 
is conflicting, as might have been expected. 

The following is an extract from an order issued by the admiralty for 
the care and management of the boilers iu the vessels of the royal navy ; 
the entire circular has been furnished the Bureau of Steam-Engineering: 

In order to protect the plates and stays from corrosion it is essential that the surfaces 
should be coated with some impervious substance. A thin layer of hard scale, de- 
posited by working the boilers with sea-water, has been fouud to be the most effectual 
preservative, and therefore all boilers when new, or at any time when any of the 
plates or stays are bare, are to be worked for a short time with the water at a density of 
about three times that of sea-water, until a slight protective scale has been deposited. 
* * * After this, in the ordinary working of the boilers, the engineer officers 
in charge of machinery are to use their discretion as to the most suitable density at 
which the Avater in the boilers should be kept for the service on which the ship is em- 
ployed. This density, which is iu no case to exceed three times or to be less than one 
and a half times that of sea-water, will probably vary to some extent on different sta- 
tions and under different conditions of working. 

No tallow or oil of animal or vegetable origin is to be put into the boilers to prevent 
priming, nor for any purpose. Boilers should, if possible, be kept empty and dry when 
they are rot at work. * * * The engineer officer must bear in mind that 
unless the boilers can be made thoroughly dry, it will be better to keep them entirely 



CORROSION OF MARINE BOILERS. 345 

full of water, as a simply damp state of the boilers and stays is a mosi fruitful cause 
of decay. 

Boilers are not to be used as tanks to contain fresh water for the use of the ship's 
company, and they are to be used as little as possible for the purpose of trimming the 
ship when under sail, as these practices tend to keep the boilers in a damp state, and 
conduce to their decay. When boilers are used for distilling water, care is to be taken 
that the stop-valves be quite tight, so taat no steam can leak into the boilers not in use. 

A late circular on the care and management of machinery and boilers, 
directs that Crane's mineral oil shall be used in cylinder and valve- 
chests, as it is not readily decomposed and possesses no acid properties; 
but as an additional safeguard, and to neutralize any possible acid prop- 
erties in the water of the boilers, about one pound of carbonate of soda 
for each ton of coal used, is to be pumped into the boilers with the feed 
water once or twice during a watch ; also that zinc slabs are to be sus- 
pended in convenient parts of the boilers as additional protectors for 
the iron.* 

Particular directions are also given as to regular inspection of the 
interior of the boilers, and if signs of decay are detected, to reports of 
the facts with sketches showing the parts attacked, &c. 

In the mercantile marine also, the system of protecting the interior sur- 
faces of iron boilers by a thin coating of scale is practiced. Much im- 
portance is also attached to the care and management of the boilers, 
and greater care taken than was formerly the case in the selection of 
competent engineers to operate the machinery. In some lines of steam- 
ers the plan has been adopted of not discharging (blowing off) any wa- 
ter from the boilers at sea, but steaming from port to port with the 
water taken in before starting, and making up the deficiencies caused 
by leaks, &c, with sea- water, even though the density should reach ^. 
The average life of usefulness of boilers in the commercial vessels of 
England is nine years. 

PRESERVATION OF BOILERS IN HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S 

VESSELS. 

To preserve the boilers in vessels laid up at the dock-yards from 
deterioration, two different systems have been tested. The one is known 
as the wet and the other as the dry system. The former consists iu- 
keeping the boilers filled completely with sea-water mixed with carbon- 
ate of soda, 25 pounds if soda ash, or 50 pounds if ordinary crystal soda 
be used, for every 10D cubic feet of sea-water in the boiler ; this is to be 
dissolved and placed in the bottom before running up the boiler. The 
quantity must be tested by placing a piece of clean new iron in a bottle 
for a night with some of the mixture ; if the iron rusts, more soda must 
be added. To secure the perfect filling of the boiler, an air-hole may be 
provided at the topmost point, and closed with a cock, and a small pipe 
for maintaining a column of water above the boiler will insure this. The 
dry process consists in removing all water from the boilers, to dryness, 
by stoves if necessary; after which depositing pans containing alto- 
gether two or three hundred-weight of dry caustic (quick) lime, lime 
newly burned, in the bottoms, over the furnaces, and above the tubes, 
the quantity depending on the size of the boiler ; in addition, a sheet-iron 
tray of burning coal is to be placed in the ash-pit or furnace till the coal 
is coked, then introduced into the boiler and the latter immediately closed; 
this consumes much of the oxygen of the air in the boiler, and increases 
the efficiency of the dry lime. At least every six months, inspection 

* The latest indications seem to be that the zinc should be in actual contact with the 
shell of the bo : ler, and not merely suspended from some of the braces. 



346 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

is to be made, and if the lime is found to be much slaked, tbe pans at the 
bottom, which cau be removed without considerably changing the air, 
are to be taken out and refilled with fresh lime. In addition to this, 
when the atmospheric dampness is extreme, light fires in the ash-pits 
are sometimes found to be necessary. The boilers of ships in commis- 
sion are to have one or other of the above methods applied for their pres- 
ervation, according as the conditions of service of each ship admit ; or 
a pan of burning coked coal may be introduced with benefit, or, if the 
boilers be kept filled, soda may be added without interfering with get- 
ting up steam at any time. The wet system, although successful to a 
considerable degree, has the objectionable feature of keeping the boilers 
and surroundings damp and disagreeable, and as a consequence it has 
not met with favor among the engineer officers, while the treatment as 
applied by the dry system has received universal favor, and has been so 
successful as to be now generally adopted. New boilers stored in the 
dock-yards waiting to be placed on board vessels are, except in two loca- 
tions, left out in the open weather, but care is taken to preserve them 
by paint, and to keep all openings and doors closed. 

WATER-TUBE BOILERS. 

Ever since the successful introduction of the compound engine on the 
Atlantic Ocean, the desire has been to extend the expansion of steam 
beyond the limits at which it is now worked ; and in order to meet this 
demand, the attention of many engineers has been directed toward pro- 
ducing a safe and reliable steam-generator, capable of carrying steam 
of 100 pounds and upward per square inch. Many plans have been 
projected and quite a number of them tested practically at sea, some of 
which have been on a scale of magnitude involving large expenditures 
of money. Every one of these new types of boilers, practically tested, 
has, up to this time, proved a total failure. In England considerable 
professional as well as public interest has been drawn to these failures, 
and many discussions took place and numerous papers appeared on the 
subject during my stay abroad. Perhaps the most able of the papers 
referred to, and one which gives a clear and full account of the noted 
failures at sea, was produced in April, 1876, by J. F. Flannery. This 
paper so completely covers the ground, that I reproduce it here. It is 
as follows :* 

The almost universal adoption of high-pressure steam at sea has brought with it 
much inconvenience, notwithstanding its great economy of fuel. The anxiety attend- 
ing upon the construction and the working of the marine boiler is much greater now 
than formerly, its first cost is largely increased, the expense of repair is much more, 
and the duration of its life is much less. I think I will have the concurrence of the 
members in saying that one of the gravest, if not the very gravest and most important, 
of the questions now arising in connection with the machinery of steamships is the 
improvement of the marine boiler. And not only does the present practice leave much 
to be desired, but the feeling in favor of still higher pressures is checked chiefly by the 
difficulty of designing a boiler which will sustain them safely and efficiently. It is an 
axiom laid down by theory, and confirmed by practice, that the higher the boiler-press- 
ure and the greater the ratio of expansion, the greater is the economy of fuel. Theo- 
retically this axiom is sustained by the fact that to generate steam of the pressure of 
30 pounds per square inch about '1,190° of heat are required, while to generate steam 
of 120 pounds per square inch about 1,218° of heat are required ; that is to say, to pro- 
duce steam of four times the boiler-pressure, less than ly'^o times the heat is required. 
Again, a boiler-pressure of 240 pounds per square inch requires about 1 ,235° of heat, or 
l^foj times the heat of steam at 30 pounds, and contaius eight times the initial force. 
Practically these differences are so small, that the same consumption of coal may be 
taken to evaporate the same quantity of water, whatever the pressure. Theoretically, 
therefore, Ave have only to increase our boiler-pressure to reduce our consumption of 

* Paper read before the Institution of Naval Architects. 



WATER-TUBE BOILERS. 347 

fuel, were it not that two well- ascertained considerations intervene. First, we have 
not hitherto been practically able to construct a boiler which, under usual conditions 
of steamship requirements, will stand a pressure greater than is now in use ; and, sec- 
ond, the heat of very highly pressed steam burns up the lubricant in the engine-cylin- 
der, quickly destroying the working parts. With the second consideration, however, 
we have not now to deal; and if we could overcome the difficulty of making a boiler 
to bear even 120 pounds with safety, much improvement would be effected. 

To start from the beginning, let us remember that the thickness of the shell of a 
cylindrical vessel containing high-pressed steam must, in order to maintain the neces- 
sary strength, be increased directly in proportion to increase of pressure and diameter, 
and that the thickness of the shell may, consistently with the strength necessary for 
any given pressure, be reduced, if its diameter be also reduced. A very usual size for 
modern high-pressure cylindrical boilers is, say, 12 feet in diameter, and the thickness 
of the shell of a boiler this diameter, double-iiveted, to bear a pressure of 120 pounds 
per square inch, would be fully 1£ inches. I am not aware of any examples of boiler 
construction where the thickness of the shell-plates has exceeded 1J inches or If 
inches, and it is almost doubtful if, considering the practical difficulties of manufac- 
ture, a perfectly good job is made with shell-plates of this thickness ; at all events, it 
is generally accepted that to make sound workmanship with a thickness greater than 
this is practically impossible. Ou the other hand, a cylindrical vessel or tube, say 12 
inches in diameter, may, for this same pressure of 120 pounds per square inch, be 
made, if welded, only ^ inch thick, and still possess the same proportionate strength, 
or, for a pressure of 150 pounds per square inch, it would be made practically about J 
inch thick, and this would give a factor of safety nearly three-fourths times greater 
than that possessed by the cylindrical boiler-shell 12 feet in diameter, 1^ inches thick, 
and pressure of 120 pounds. It is practically certain, therefore, that the limit of press- 
ure with the present type of boiler has been reached; and when we consider how 
much economy of fuel has been effected by increasing the pressure to its present 
height, and how much more economy may be effected by still further increasing the 
pressure, it is seen that the adaptation of an efficient high-pressure marine boiler 
would meet a great and increasing want. 

Many look for the solution of this problem to the type known as the water-tube or 
tubulous boiler ; that is, the system by which the cylindrical portions of the boiler sub- 
ject to internal pressure are reduced in diameter and increased in number, the result 
being that for a given weight of material a much higher pressure of steam is carried, 
and, indeed, by the reduction of the necessary thickness of the shells a higher pressure 
of steam is carried, and more economy of coal insured than is possible with any 
other type of boiler. The other advantages claimed for boilers of this type are, that 
the thinness of the metal interposed between the fire and the water enables the heat 
to be conveyed more efficiently and with less waste, and also enables the steam to be 
raised more rapidly ; that the danger of explosion is limited ; that a damaged tube can 
be easily replaced; that greater strength proportionate to the pressure being possible 
in first manufacture, the wear of the metal in the boilers need not, at a later date, 
enforce reduced pressure, and therefore reduced speed of ships, as is the case with exist- 
ing types of boilers. It is pointed out also that where boilers of the ordinary type 
require renewal the decks must be broken away, whereas the separate portions of the 
tubulous boiler may be passed down the hatchway; and, further, that a war-ship on a 
foreign station must either return home or to the nearest dock-yard in the event of any 
serious wear upon ordinary boilers, but so many spare tubes of the water-tube system 

might be carried as to greatly extend the period of service upon a foreign station. 

* # * # * * # 

The direction of the flame in the ordinary boiler is always along the faces of the 
heating surfaces, whereas in the water-tube boiler it is in a direction at right angles 
to them ; the heating efficiency of iiame striking the plate directly, as in this latter 
case, must be much greater than whes sliding along the surface, and we see, therefore, 
that this system not only enables thinner plates conveying the heat more peifectly to 
the water to be used, but also directly increases the action of the flame itself. Again, 
the escape of the steam-bubbles from the metal surface upon which they are generated 
is more rapid and direct when that surface is disposed horizontally. The condition 
most essential to safety is beyond doubt good circulation. The heat to which a tube 
immediately over a fire is exposed amounts to upward of 2,000°; the specific heat ot 
water, or its power to absorb heat, is twice that of steam, and, in addition, the evap- 
orating water absorbs the latent heat of steam, making its receptive power many times 
that of steam ; there is, therefore, no difficulty in aniviug at the conclusion that a tube 
of, say, | inch thickness, which is not relieved by freely-circulated water, will become 
hot and dangerous in a very few seconds, and it may be shown that the absence of pro- 
vision for this good circulation has been the primary cause of the difficulties the water- 
tube boiler has yet encountered. It is noticed, on reference to the diagrams, how large 
a body of water is contained by the ordinary boiler, as compared with the volume of 
water held by the water-tube boiler, in proportion to their heating and grate surfaces. 



348 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

The effect of this is that the ordinary boiler has a large reserve of water at nearly 
boiling-point, and is not therefore exposed to such sudden fluctuations of pressure, with 
their attendant evils, as the water-tube boiler. If the strength of the fires be suddenly 
increased in a water-tube boiler, a spasmodic rise of pressure, leading to accumulation 
of steam in the water-chambers, priming, loss of water, and overheated tubes, takes 
place, and this defect is quite absent from the ordinary boilers ; and not only so, but 
the large reserve of water in the ordinary boiler, the whole of which above the fire-bar 
level must be heated to nearly boiling-point, is the cause of a much more gradual, and, 
therefore, more easily effected circulation of the water; indeed, the small volume of 
water is still further reduced by the isolated subdivision of the parts, each tube having 
to supply, circulate, and evaporate in a very independent manner, and with little ref- 
erence to the volume of water contained by its neighbors. Clearly the smalluess 01 
the contents of a tubulous boiler is in some respects a serious drawback, although it is 
in other respects an advantage. The difficulty of obtaining a good circulation is from 
the nature of the case greater in the tubulous boiler, and the increased friction of the 
water due to high pressure adds to this difficulty, while at the same time it increases 
the necessity, and it is a matter for the earnest consideration of inventors whether 
artificial circulation, produced by subdivided feed-inlets or otherwise, may not after 
all be resorted to. This idea has been expressed to me by one of our most eminent 
marine engineers, and it does seem that the certainty of good circulation thus obtained 
would compensate for the complication of working parts. One element of danger abso- 
lutely possessed by the water-tube boiler, and not shared by the ordinary boiler, lies 
in the fact that the metal exposed to the direct action of the fire is at the same time 
subjected to the tensile strain of internal pressure. In the ordinary boiler the parts 
subjected to tensile strain are not acted upon by the fire, and those parts acted upon 
by the fire have the water surrounding them with a compressing strain. Although 
the crushing strain of wrought iron is less than its tensile strain, the case in point of 
the fire playing upon iron under tension is more dangerous, because any flaws will be 
stretched out, the flame will penetrate them, and promote their increase to bursting- 
point. 

The water-tube boiler has, under several designs differing in their details, been ex- 
tensively used for the generation of steam in factories, and for other stationary pur- 
poses, both in England and America; and, although some important defects exist and 
some unfortunate failures have occurred, still it cannot be denied that, as a rule, its 
results have been fairly satisfactory. Why, then, has it not come into more extensive 
vse at sea? It may be answered, generally, that the conditions to be fulfilled on board 
ship are more stringent, the space allotted is more circumscribed, and the boiler must 
conform to its limits. A less leisurely and methodical action is necessary than in a 
machine used for stationary purposes, and defects of little importance on laud develop 
into serious evils at sea. We may best elucidate this question, however, by consider- 
ing some of the cases in which the water-tube boiler has been tested for marine pur- 
poses, and by analyzing the cause of failure in these cases. Several practical trials at 
sea have been made, and the enterprising and truly admirable spirit displayed by two 
steamship-owners especially cannot be too highly commended. The gentlemen alluded 
to are Mr. S. B. Guion, of Liverpool, the managing owner of the steamship Montana, 
and Mr. W. H. Dixon, of Liverpool, the owner of the steamship Propontis. The exam- 
ples in these vessels being the most recent and by far the most important trials of the 
water-tube system, I propose to ask your attention to them first. 

The Montana is a steamship of more than 4,000 tons, and was built for service on the 
Guion line between Liverpool and New York. Among other innovations, she was 
litted by Messrs. Palmer, of Jarrow-on-Tyne, with boilers intended to work at 100 
pounds pressure, and it was anticipated that the economy of fuel would be very great. 
Figs. 1 and 2 * * * will convey a good idea of the nature of the design. Each 
boiler was composed of tubes 15 inches in diameter and 15 feet long, sealed at the ends, 
but communicating with each other by vertical necks about 6£ inches in diameter. 
There were five horizontal, or nearly horizontal, rows of these tubes in each boiler, and 
each row contained seven tubes. Noticing the profile, it will be seen that to carry otV 
the steam generated and to promote the circulation of the water each horizontal tube 
was supplied with two necks. As the steam must all rise to the top, the necks between 
the bottom tube and the one immediately above must take up the steam generated in 
the bottom tube; the neck between the second row from the bottom and the one im- 
mediately above it must take not only the steam generated in the second, but also that 
in the first row, and so on, the neck nearest the top having to convey the steam gen- 
erated in the whole of the tiers of tubes below it. In addition to these tubes, there 
are in the uptake three steam reservoirs or superheaters 3 feet in diameter. In design- 
ing the boiler, the two vertical rows of tubes nearest the fire-door were set apart for 
the purpose of heating the feed- water, aud the six other vertical rows of tubes farthest 
from the fire-door were set apart to generate steam from the feed-water so heated. In 
accordance with the duty thus assigned to them, the two rowsof tubes vertically near- 
est the fire-door had the feed-pipes connected to them at the top and had small pipes 



WATER -TUBE BOILERS. 349 

only | inch in diameter fitted also at the top, to carry away any s'eam which might 
happen to be generated. It was, of course, sxpectedthat tie current of the feed- watti 
passing through these two feed-heating sections would be so rapid and that the fire un- 
der them would be so much less vivid nearest to the dead-plate that the water could 
not, while in them, absorb sufficient heat to evaporate. The water was delivered from 
these feed-heating sections into a large feed-wattr chamber, which supplied the other 
sections. The two sections designed as feed-heaters are so calltd, though as a matter 
of fact they were not feed-heaters only, but calculated to generate steam nearly 
as much as any of the other tubes in the boiler, and the steam had really no 
outlet, because the ^-inch pipe provided for the purpose was so small as to hd 
practically useless. The natural action of the steam generated in these sections 
was, therefore, to rise to the top tubes, to accumulate there, and to depress the level 
of the water, driving it out through the bottom pipes from all that vertical section of 
tubes, and finally exposing to the direct action of the fire a bottom tube filled only 
with steam, or steam and a small quantity of water. This is exactly what did take 
place, and on the first trial passage of the vessel from the Tyne toward the Mersey, 
five of the tubes burst. These tubes were all situated in corresponding places in the 
different boilers ; that is, the lowest tube in the inner feed-heating section. After this 
experience, the connections were altered so as to join this inner feed section to the rest 
of the steam-generating part of the boiler, leaving the outer vertical row only to act as 
a feed-heater. Eor some few hours this arrangement gave promise of better success; 
but, after a day and a half's working, two more tubes, one of them the fourth from the 
front in the bottom row, gave way ; and the owners, completely discouraged by these 
failures, and taking into consideration also the fact that the boilers were heavier and 
more bulky than boilers of the same power of the ordinary kind, decided to condemn 
them and replace them by ordinary cylindrical boilers. The cause of the failure 
of the sections devoted to feed- water heating appears sufficiently obvious, and as 
the separation of these sections was a special feature in this example, and is not likely 
to be repeated in other water-tube boilers, we may dismiss it from further considera- 
tion. But the bursting of the other tubes is more serious, and appears to more closely 
affect the general priuciple of water-tube boilers. A very able article, from which some 
of the particulars given above have been drawn, appeared iu the Nautical Magazine on 
the subject of the Montana's boilers, and it is there suggested that the cause of the ex- 
plosion of the inner tube on the bottom row was the absence of a sufficiently large 
steam connection between the top or steam-holding chambers to counteract the ine- 
quality of pressure in them. It will be noted that the feed-pipes for all the sections 
are common to one feed-water chamber, and supposing any inequality of steam-press- 
ure to exist, the water would, of course, be forced from the chamber containing the 
highest pressure to those containing a lower pressure. The steam-pipes counectiug 
the upper chambers were 2 inches in diameter, and the area of the fire-grate under 
each section was about 7f square feet. A very simple calculation shows that these 
2-inch pipes were very small, if any large difference in pressure was to be equalized. 
Another explanation, and one which appears quite reasonable, was advauced by Mr. 
John Watt. He calculates that the grate surface, 7.75 feet, acting upon the water in 
each bottom tube, is equal to the evaporation of 12.83 pounds of water, or 78 cubic feet 
of steam at 50 pounds pressure, per minute. Now, the only orifices through which this 
quantity of steam may escape are the before-mentioned pair of 64-inch vertical necks, 
which have each an area of 33.18 square inches ; one of these would probably be a 
downcast for the water, and the other, at the higher level, being an upcast for the 
-team, the steam would therefore rush through this neck at the rate of nearly 340 feet 
per minute, a speed so great that the assumption that the steam would drag the water 
upward from the bottom tubes, leaving them exposed to the fire, does not seem exag- 
gerated. Whichever of these explanations be correct, it is evident, in the light of the 
experience now gained, that the failure of these tubes iu the Montana's boilers pro- 
ceeded from easily-preventable causes, because in a future design the feed- water ar- 
rangement could be omitted, and the steam connections to equalize the pressure in the 
different sections could be enlarged, the vertical necks for the escape of the steam 
could be much increased in area, and it is possible that if these alterations had been 
effected upon the Montana, a result very nearly approaching success would have been 
obtained. Indeed, it was most unfortunate, iu the interests of science, that no farther 
experiments were made with this vessel; she was coudemued after a series of trials 
extending altogether over not more than five or six days. 

The Propontis is a steamer of about 2,000 tons, belonging to Mr. W. H. Dixon, of 
Liverpool. In 1874 she was litted by Messrs. John Elder >Sc Co. with boilers on the 
water-tube priuciple, under Rowan & Horton's patent. * * * They are tour in 
number, having one chimney, and each boiler consists of seven horizontal cylindrical 
vessels, connected together by vertical tubes 12 inches in diameter, supplemented by 
numerous pipes 2| inches iu diameter; the space for steam iu the upper vessels being 
increased by four diagonal domes. To further guard against priming, tubes are car- 
ried directly from the steam-dome down to the lowest vessels, BO that an\ water ear- 



350 

Tied up by the s'eam will be broken frcra it iu the upper chamber and fall down again 
to the lowest level ; the feed is also delivered at tbe bottom chambers. Baffle-plates 
are fitted to circulate the flame among the tubes. * * * The lower or water cham- 
bers were connected, but no connection was made between the upper or steam cham- 
bers ; the importance of this omission is obvious, and was discovered in the working 
of the boilers, as will be seen further on. The working-pressure intended was 150 
pounds. While the defects in the boilers of the Montana exhibited themselves after a 
A r ery few hours' work, the boilers of the Propontis continued their promise of success 
for a much longer period, and, indeed, were exhaustively tested at sea for a time ex- 
tending over several months. The first voyage of the Propontis was from Liverpool 
to the Black Sea and back, and very careful observations of the working of the boilers 
Tvere made. The consumption of coal, taken during a run of 10 hours, was 1.54 pounds 
per indicated horse- power per hour; the pressure of steam being easily maintained at 
130 pounds to 140 pounds. It is by no means certain that the full advantage of the 
Propontis's boilers in point of economy is represented by the above figures, because the 
baffle-plates for the deflection of the flame were not arranged just in the way that 
experience afterward showed they should be arranged, and consequently much uncon- 
sumed gas escaped up the chimney. So far the career of the tubulous boiler in this 
ship was fairly satisfactory and sufficiently promising; but before long, evils which 
had been gradually accumulating, developed themselves in an unpleasantly conspicu- 
ous manner. * * * Some of the smaller sized vertical tubes terminate in S-bends 
at the points where they join the horizontal vessels. The peculiarity of this bend 
rendered it impossible to clean the tubes from scale, so that salt water could not be 
used ; indeed, precautions of an unusually perfect character were taken to admit pure 
distilled water only to the boiler, and the action of this distilled water, unmixed with 
any salt, was just what might have been expected: a corrosive action was set up in 
the tubes; some parts of the internal surface were quite untouched, while other 
parts close to them were perforated by circular blotches of coirosion of ^ inch to 1-J 
inches diameter. These were continually giving out, allowing the steam and water 
to escape upon the fires. The defects were temporarily remedied by drawing the 
fires and. binding a ligature round the injured tube over the hole; and these little ex- 
plosions were of such fiequent occurrence that one of the four boilers was almost con- 
stantly disconnected. 

In the early part of 1875 the boilers underwent a thorough repair, being supplied 
with some 300 new r tubes, and were tested by water-pressure to 275 pounds. After this a 
small quantity of sea-water was allowed to enter the boilers to make up the waste, and 
after completing another voyage to and from the Levant, her boilers were opened up 
and found to be coated with a slight scale. In September of last year she commenced 
another voyage, but on the third or fourth day the wing-chamber of the forward star- 
board boiler burst, injuring two men, the pressure at the time being 150 pounds. The 
rent was nearly two feet long, and was in the solid plate near the lower side of the tube, 
and about its middle length. At Lisbon this was repaired by riveting a patch f inch 
thick. Leaving Lisbon, she had been but a very few days out before another explosion 
took place, the pressure at the time being only 105 pounds. The fracture was in the 
wing-chamber of the starboard after boiler, and was again in the solid plate, at the 
lower side of the chamber; the rent measured 12 inches by 7 inches. The diameters 
of the tubes which gave way were 21 inches, the plate f inch thick, and the bursting 
pressure of this would be 1,200 pounds, provided the plate were cool and uninjured. 
Putting into Algiers, the boilers underwent an inspection by French engineers, and in 
accordance with their advice the furnaces were partially bricked up and the pressure 
reduced to 60 pounds. It may be here remarked that the opinion of the French 
engineers that a reduction of pressure meant, in the case of these boilers, greater 
safety, was very questionable. It may be a paradox to say that the lower the pressure 
the greater the danger, but in the case of water-tube boilers, under certain conditions, 
that is the fact. Let us remember that a cubic inch of water will make a cubic foot of 
steam of the same tension as the atmosphere, and that the greater the pressure the 
less is the bulk of any given quantity, say a pound weight of steam. Now, as the 
power of a boiler may be measured by the number of pounds weight of steam that it 
evaporates, the Propontis' s boiler would evaporate no really greater quantity of steam 
at 60 pounds pressure than it cou'd evaporate at 150 pounds pressure; but whatever 
steam it did evaporate would at 60 pounds pressure occupy more than twice the space 
it would occupy if at 150 pounds pressure. Again, evaporation caunot take place with- 
out circulation, and circulation is the mutual changing places of the steam as it is 
generated and the water about to be evaporated ; if, therefore, the steam occupies 
twice the volume, then there will be twice the space for it to travel through to circu- 
late or chaDge places with the new water ; and as one dangerous defect in the Propontis 
Mas insufficient circulation, it is seen that by lowering the pressure the French con- 
sulting engineers may not at all have increased the safety of the boiler. It is a most 
interest ug investigation, but one which I fear can only be conducted practically, to 
earn how far the increased friction, varying directly as the pressure, compensates for 



WATER-TUBE BOILERS. 351 

the decreased volume of the evaporating steam. The vessel was towed from Algiers 
to Gibraltar, and then the extra tire-bricks were taken out, a baffle-plate between the 
chambers and the fires was fitted, and test-cocks were placed on each water-chamber. 
Under the protection of the baffle-plates, and the careful watching of the water-level 
made possible by the test-cocks, the vessel steamed home with three boilers. 

Upon final examination it was found that the vertical tubes were bulged and dis- 
torted in several places, and all the horizontal tubes exposed to the direct action of 
the fire were more or less bulged upon their lower sides, thus affording clear evidence 
that in most of the water-chambers of the boiler steam was sometimes collected. 
These bulgings or partial injuries to the boiler evidently arose from defective circula- 
tion, and the bursting or more serious injuries were the result of the unequal pressure 
of steam in different sections. There was no pipe connecting the steam-chambers of 
the two boilers, and although the steam-chambers were not connected, the water- 
chambers were, so that any increase of steam-pressure in one boiler simply had the 
effect of driving the water out of its own chamber into the other boiler. Not only 
was the unprotected plate exposed to the fire, hut the abnormal increase in the water- 
level of one chamber held out every inducement to priming. This serious structural 
omission explains the bursting due to overheating, and at the same time the priming 
which occurred. It is very remarkable that the partial absence of a similar pipe con- 
tributed to the failure of the boilers of the Montana. It has been suggested that the 
bursting of the tubes in the Proponiis arose not so much from defective circulation of 
the water as from corrosion and consequent weakening of the plates ; this is the fact 
as regards the small circular perforations, but the same explanation does not apply to 
the longitudinal rents, and is not borne out by an examination into the character of 
the larger fractures. The longitudinal rents which caused the loss of life occurred in 
portions of the tubes practically uninjured by corrosion, and it was found that the 
fracture showed only a slightly reduced thickness of metal, and that at a distance of 
about 1 inch from the lip of the rent the plates resumed their original thickness. 
The bursting pressure of the rent tube was, as already stated, 1,200 pounds per square 
inch, and the uncorroded appearance of the fractured portions points to the conclusion 
that defective circulation and overheating caused the explosion. The plates, if hot, 
would stretch a little before giving way, and the confined space over which the thin- 
ness extends seems to show that it should be traced to stretching only. 

The Birkenhead is one of the large passenger ferry-steamers running between Liver- 
pool and Birkenhead. She was built in 1872, and fitted by the Patent Steam-Boiler 
Company, Birmingham, with tubulous boilers on Root's patent. The boilers * * * 
were each divided into fifteen sections, each section consisting of eight horizontallv- 
inclined tubes 11 feet long by 6 inches in diameter ; these tubes were at the ends con- 
nected to small cellular vessels. Communication between these vessels in their respect- 
ive horizontal tiers was effected by bent pipes bolted to them * * 
* The working pressure was 40 pounds, although in designing the boiler the 
pressure was intended to be 60 pounds. * * It is only fair to the 
manufacturers to say that they labored under the difficulty of very confined head- 
room ; these vessels are of limited draught, and as a flush deck is necessary for the 
passenger traffic, the vertical space at the disposal of the designer was quite insufficient 
to give boilers of this type a fair chance of success. The boilers were for the first 
few months of their existence worked with impure water, and considerable trouble 
from overheated tubes was the consequence. A fresh-water tank was afterward fitted, 
and with an improved result, but still it was found that the tubes in the bottom row 
were continually bulging and giving out from overheating, and the vessel was fre- 
quently off duty for repair. The exit of the steam was no doubt retarded by the 
turnings and counter-turnings it underwent before reaching the surface. The greater 
vertical distance through which the steam rises from the surface of the water before 
rushing to the engine, the less is the tendency to carry water away with it, not only 
because there is more time given for the water to fall back from the ascending steam, 
but because the pull caused by each stroke of the engine is less severely felt at the 
bottom tubes if they are some distance below the steam outlet. * * 

In this design a very small height w r as between the stop-valve and the bottom tubes, 
and the engines being paddle-engines with large cylinders and slow stroke, there is no 
doubt that the tendency of the water to forsake the bottom tubes was greatly enhanced 
from this cause, although primarily due to imperfect circulation. This defect would 
also be increased by the stoppages and the lying-to of the vessel in her work as a ferry- 
steamer allowing accumulations of the steam-pressure. Not only so, but the deficient 
room rendered it impossible to get in so much boiler-power as was afterward thought 
necessary, and the manufacturers allege that consequent forcing of the fire contributed 
in no small degree to the failure of the tubes. The sister ships to the Birkenhead, 
working on the same station and with very similar engines, but boilers of the ordinary 
type, offered an excellent standard of the average consumption of coal, and thesaving 
in the Birkenhead by comparison with one of the boats amounted to 17 per cent., and 
by comparison with the other tD25 per cent. This result is the more remarkable wheu 



352 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

it is remembered that the pressure was only 40 pounds, and that the expansion in the 
engines of the Birkenhead could not be greater than in the sister ships ; the compara- 
tive economy was therefore entirely due to the more effective arrangement of the parts, 
the thinness of the metal in the tubes, and the direct action of the flame upon them 
favoring the evaporation ; had the pressure been higher aud the expansion greater, 
the economy would no doubt have been largely increased. Notwithstanding the excel- 
lent result in point of economy, the ferry management condemned the boilers after 
nearly three years' work, on account of the continual breakdowns, and the vessel is 
now fitted with boilers of the ordinary type made by Messrs. James Taylor & Co. The 
cause of the comparative failure of these boilers has already been indicated ; the 
twisted passages for the exit of the steam and the low vertical height, added to heavy 
firing, caused the bottom tubes to be occasionally full of steam, and being exposed to 
the full action of the fire they were quickly destroyed. 

Another vessel fitted with boilers on a Root's patent, and of very similar design, but 
still more contracted passages for circulation, was the steamship Malta, of 2,000 tons, 
belonging to the Merchants' Trading Company, Liverpool. They were in this case 
found to give off steam with great rapidity, and steam could be raised in them in about 
half the time necessary in boilers of the ordinary type. The working pressure was 50 
pounds. The boilers went on about twelve months, during Avhich time the vessel 
visited the Mediterranean and the Baltic. Very little priming took place, but the 
same defect as in the other cases developed itself, the circulation of the water was 
insufficient, some of the bottom tubes nearest the fire bulged and gave out, and the 
boilers were finally taken out to convert the vessel into a sailing-ship. The engines 
were very old before the Root boiler was fitted, and their worn-out condition con- 
tributed to the owners' decision to alter the vessel. I am informed that many of these 
Root boilers, of the same manufacture, are working successfully on land, and where 
large space may be given and leisurely delivery of the steam is possible, they have 

been found highly successful. 

******* 

Boilers were fitted to the steamships Amalia and Palm under Ramsden's patent. 
These boilers worked very satisfactorily for about four years, but at the end of that 
time it was found that the construction of the boilers not fully providing means for 
the removal of the incrustation, the plates had seriously deteriorated, and the boilers 
were consequently removed. 

Trials were made of the Howard patent safety-boiler in the steamships Fairy Dell, 
Meredith, and Marc Antony. These boilers were all constructed about toe same date, 
1870. Their working on board ship in all these cases was quite unsatisfactory ; the 
lower tubes burst, others leaked, and very great priming took place. These results 
were traced to the same general causes that led to the difficulties experienced with the 
Birkenhead and Malta, and it is unnecessary to discuss them in detail. 

After discussing so many failures of the water-tube system, I cannot close this paper 
without describing the most recent working example of thetubulous boiler for marine 
purposes. One of the earliest advocates of the tubulous boiler is Mr. John Watt, of 
Birkenhead, and his system is shown on the diagrams. The diagram represents the 
boiler of the steam-flat Gertrude. " The boiler consists of a series of inclined tubes con- 
nected at their ends to rectangular water-chambers. To the top of the chamber is con- 
nected a steam-receiver, from whence the steam is taken to the engines. The rectan- 
gular chambers are stayed, like the ordinary locomotive fire-box, by means of stays 
through the door and tube-plates, one end of each stay being left sufficiently long to 
enable the tube doors to be secured. The tubes are iu diagonal rows, and the course 
of the flame is in zigzag direction among them." A very brief consideration of the 
natural action of the steam and water in this boiler will show that it possesses features 
superior to some of the boilers already described. As the steam is generated in the 
tubes, the angle at which they are inclined will facilitate its ascent to the upper rect- 
angular water-space B, and once there, its ascent to the steam-receiver is easy aud cer- 
tain, its upper passage being unobstructed ; at the same time the water to take the 
place of the steam generated contained in the lower rectangular chamber A, will, by a 
natural action, ascend from it, and so a good circulation is secured. The necessary 
feature in a boiler of this arrangement is a separate outlet for the steam and a sepa- 
rate inlet for the circulating water ; any contention between the ascending steam and 
the descending water must be fatal. 

The shorter and wider the tubes are made the greater will be their safety, because the 
amount of evaporation will vary as the heating surface of the tube. Now, the surface 
of the tube increases directly as the diameter, but the volume contained increases as 
the square of the diameter, and this fact goes far to explain the danger of long narrow 
tubes, the length still further increasing the difficulty of the exit of the steam. In the 
case of the Propontis, some of the smaller vertical pipes were so far attenuated as to be 
b feet long and 2^' inches in diameter. I am informed that the Gertrude's boiler has 
worked for some months, and with so perfect a circulation that no deposit or scale has 
been formed, although partially salt water is used, and the engine is not fitted with 
a surface-condenser. Another design, strongly advocated by the inventor, is that of 



Watt's Boiler. 




JO G C 




E N o 



Side, 



S . S . Gertrude . 




De tails '. 



WATER-TUBE BOILERS. 353 

Mr. Wigzell. * * * This is a compromise between the tubulous boiler and 
the boiler of ordinary type ; the flame will surround the inclined cylinders, and the 
other cylinders being perforated with tubes, it will pass through these on its way to 
the chimney, its exit through them being: made compulsory by blockiug up the lower 
spaces between the cylinders by diaphragm plates. No boilers of this design have 
yet been tried at sea, though the inventor assures me that most satisfactory results are 
obtained by its use for land purposes. 

We set out with the statement that, so far as present lights enable us to judge, 
greater economy in the use of coal at sea can only be obtained by increased boiler- 
pressure ; that cylindrical vessels of small diameter are the only practical generators of 
nigh-pressure steam ; that up to the present time no water-tube boiler on a large scale 
has given perfectly satisfactory results at sea ; and that the practical trials already 
made are in themselves sufficient to teach useful lessons, and perhaps to indicate to 
some extent the practice of the future. If there is some specific feature in the design 
of the boilers of the above-mentioned ships which is common to them all and has con- 
tributed to their failure, then a valuable lesson will have been drawn from them. 
Insufficient circulation of the water has been more or less a characteristic of the above 
cases, and to get at the root of the matter it is necessary to discover why the circula- 
tion has been insufficient. In the ordinary boiler the reservoir for steam is vertically 
above the surface upon which it is generated, and no obstruction to its ascent is offered, 
except the friction through the superincumbent water. Looking at the diagrams, it 
will be seen that the steam generated at certain portions of the boiler surface, in all 
the examples of water-tube boilers, must travel a greater or less distance horizontally, 
or nearly horizontally, before it can make its movement in a vertical direction, and in 
some of the cases the steam encounters repeated obstructions to the horizontal devia- 
tions from its continued ascent through the water. No difficulty of this kind is to be 
found in the ordinary marine boiler ; the steam as it is generated ascends by a free and 
natural action through an unobstructed body of water, and it is only when steam can 
move in a vertical, or nearly vertical, direction that it has any tendency to circulation 
at all. To design a boiler in such a manner that the steam shall move in a horizontal 
direction for ever so short a distance, is to lay down a wrong principle, because the 
horizontal movement can only be borrowed from the force developed in those particles 
of steam which are ascending, and which jostle, so to speak, their neighbors along the 
horizontal portion of their journey. Now, the greatest obstruction to circulation at 
high pressures, apart from the arrangement of the tubes, is the great friction. An 
arrangement which at a lower pressure would give fairly good results will quite refuse 
to produce proper circulation when the friction is seriously increased by high pressure, 
and it is evident that a high-pressure water-tube boiler must, if it does not depend on 
artificial circulation, have no portion of its interior so arranged that a horizontal flow 
of the steam through the water is necessary. The features which the successful marine 
high-pressure boiler must possess are, a clear vertical lead for the steam as it is gen- 
erated, separate downcasts for the water and upcasts for the steam, and accessibility for 
the removal of incrustatiou. Whether the designs introduced, but not yet fully tested, 
may be found to give better results than some of those we have named is a problem 
yet to be solved. 

# * * * * * * 

80 far as we may now judge, it does appear that the water-tube boiler, designed 
scientifically and in accord a ice with the experience the past failures have taught, 
holds out prospects of much more satisfactory and profitable work than has yet been 
obtained by its use at sea. 

The most extensive and costly of the boiler experiments represented 
in the foregoing paper was the one made by the Guion line of steamers. 
In addition to the boilers fitted on board the steamship Montana and 
tested at sea, the Dakota, a sister ship, was also fitted with the same 
kind of boilers, and although those of this ship were not quite com- 
pleted when the others in the Montana were condemned, they too were 
at the same time removed to the scrap-heap. The cost of the boilers for 
each of these ships was $175,000, and it is believed that the total cost 
to the company for this experiment has been not less than $480,000. It 
has been estimated that daring the seven years ending in 1876, the total 
cost in Great Britain resulting from the failures of boilers designed to 
be worked at sea with pressures of upward of 100 pounds per square iuch 
has nearly reached the enormous sum of $1,000,000.* 

* For a description of sectional boilers used in Europe, see report, volume III., on 
the International Exposition held at Vienna, WI5, by Prof. R. H. Thurston, A. M., C. E., 
late engineer officer, United States Navy. 

23 k 



354 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

BOILER EXPLOSIONS. 

It is well known that in several countries there ar*> associations which 
insure boiler-owners from damage arising from boiler explosions, by a 
thorough system of periodical examination of their boilers, and direct- 
ing necessary repairs to be made. These bodies publish reports from 
time to time of all accidents to bo.lers, detailing the causes which led 
to them, and also giving accounts of experiments made by themselves 
and others to test various practical points relative to the strength of 
boilers. The following is a synopsis of the proceedings at a meeting of 
one of these useful and important associations: 

At the annual meeting of the Manchester Steam-Users Association, held at the Man- 
chester town-hall [1876], there were exhibited some large boiler-plates showing the 
rents that had been formed by hydraulic pressure in a, full-sized mill-boiler of the Lan- 
cashire type, constructed entirely for experimental purposes. The plates shown con- 
tain the fractures developed. The experiments on this boiler, which have just been 
brought to a conclusion, have extended over about eighteen months. The boiler has 
been burst eleven times, being substantially repaired after each bursting, the entire outer 
shell at one time being remade. These experiments have led to interesting and im- 
portant results, of which the following is an official summary. They have shown the 
weakening effect that steam-domes have upon cylindrical boilers, and the importance 
at high pressures of having manhole mouth-pieces, as well as all the fitting blocks, of 
wrought iron instead of cast. They have also proved that the furnace-tubes when 
strengthened at the ring-seams of rivets with encircling hoops or flanged joints, and 
the flat ends, when suitably stayed, are stronger than the cylindrical portion of the 
shell, which rends at the longitudinal seams of rivets. In the recent fatal explosion 
at Rochester on board the steam-tug Prince of Wales, the flat end failed before the 
cylindrical portion of the shell, showing that the boiler was malconstructed. The ex- 
perimental boiler, which was 7 feet in diameter, and made of plates 7-l'»ths of an inch 
in thickness, rent in the outer casing at a cast-iron manhole mouth-piece at a press- 
ure of 200 pounds on the inch ; at a machine-made, single-riveted longitudinal seam 
of rivets, at a pressure of 275 pounds on the inch; at a double-riveted longitudinal 
seam of rivets at a pressure of 300 pounds on the inch when hand-made, and at a press- 
ure of 310 pounds on the inch when machine-made. The experiments showed the supe- 
rior tightuess as well as strength of double-riveted to single-riveted seams, and of 
machine-work to hand-work. The factor of safety adopted by the association, and 
which they find efficient, is 4 to 1. It had been calculated that the bursting pressure 
of the boiler would be 300 pounds, which has been verified by the experiments. Boil- 
ers of the dimensions just given are guaranteed by the association at a working press- 
ure of 75 pounds on the square inch. The plates of which the boiler has been made 
are about to be tested in an accurate machine as regards cohesion and elasticity, so as 
to check the results obtained by water-pressure. When these are completed the entire 
results will be given to the public. 

The labors of the association have conclusively shown that steam-boiler explosions 
are not accidental nor mysterious, but that they arise in the great majority of cases 
from the use of boilers unfit for work. 

REPORT ON EXPLODED BOILER OF THE THUNDERER BY THE CHIEF 
ENGINEER SURVEYOR TO LLOYD'S. 

In consequence of a request made by Messrs. Humphrys, Tennaot & Co. to the com- 
mittee of Lloyd's Register, that I should form one of the committee of experts to in- 
vestigate the cause of the explosion of one of the boilers of this vessel, 1 received in- 
structions from the secretary to accompany the various gentlemen deputed by the 
coroner, the admiralty, and the manufacturers, to inquire into the cause of this acci- 
dent. 

The investigation commenced on the 26th July [1876]. * 

The Thunderer is an armor-clad turret-ship, built at Pembroke about 1870. The en- 
gines, which are constructed to indicate between 5,000 and 6,000 horse-power, were 
made about the same time. They receive their steam from nine rectangular wet-bot- 
tom boilers, of the form at that time adopted in Her Majesty's navy, the boilers hav- 
ing 33 furnaces in all. They are arranged in a fore-and-aft direction on each side of 
the vessel, and are situated in two stoke-holes, there being four boilers in the after 
stoke-hole and five in the forward one. The boilers are all connected to the main 
steam-pipes by screw-down stop-valves, situated on the tops of the boilers, and so ar- 
ranged that each can be shut off from the others at will. Each boiler is also fitted 
with a smaller stop- valve connecting it to a system of steam-pipes, so that each or any 



EXPLOSION OF THE THUNDERER'S BOILER. 355 

of them can be used for supplying steam to the numerous auxiliary engines fitted for 
various services in all parts of the vessel. 

Properly-constructed steam and water gauges, feed-cocks, blow-off cocks, and other 
necessary appliances are fitted to each boiler, together with a sufficient number of 
safety- valves. These safety-valves are inclosed in cast-iron chests bolted on the fronts 
of the boilers, and have internal pipes or pockets fitted so that the steam is taken 
from the highest part of the boiler. 

The valves themselves are made on the ordinary direct-weighted principle, with 
solid spindles, and are guided at the bottom by three feathers working in the valve- 
seats. Each valve is loaded to a working pressure of 30 pounds per square inch. They 
are such as are generally fitted in Her Majesty's navy, and have nothing novel about 
their construction. 

The steam-gauges are on the ordinary Bourdon principle, graduated to 35 j)ounds 
per square inch, and are fixed in conspicuous places on the fronts of the boilers. 

It appears the vessel was tried under steam several times at Pembroke, afterward 
was steamed around to Portsmouth in charge of the admiralty officials, and has sub- 
sequently been under steam on several occasions. 

On the 14th July it was arranged to make the official trial. The vessel lay at Spit- 
head, fires were lighted at 10 o'clock, steam was slowly raised in all the boilers, and 
about 1 o'clock the engines were started for a preparatory run before going on the 
measured-mile full-power trial. 

In about eight or ten minutes afterward the foremost starboard boiler in the after 
stoke-hole exploded. The vessel was towed into Portsmouth Harbor and the stoke- 
holes were strictly guarded until the official inspection took place. I was present at 
the first inspection aud have been present at all subsequent examinations. 

On examining the exploded boiler, it was found that almost the whole of the front 
plates above the smoke-box doors had been forced away, and lay, together with the 
smoke-box doors and other debris, in a distorted mass on the stoke-hole floors. The 
X>lates themselves were torn through the first seam of rivets above the smoke-boxes for 
almost the whole length of the boiler, rending in a diagonal direcniou through the 
solid pla e at tbe manhole, and again tearing through the seams of rivets connecting 
them with the crown aud other pa ts of the shell. The front of the uptake was bulged, 
torn, and driven back against the back plates. The plates were drawn over the stays 
supporting these flat surfaces. The T-iron fastenings to the stays above the uptake 
plates were sheared through the pinholes. The top of the boiler immediately over the 
uptake was bulged upward. The sides of the smoke-boxes below the ruptured parts, 
together with the lidt surfaces in the combustion-chambers, and two of the furnace- 
crowns, were bulged between the stays. Altogether the boiler showed decided symp- 
toms of having been subjected to excessive pressure. 

There were no signs of shortness or water. 

The workmanship appeared to b^- of the best description, and from the proof-mark 
on the front of the boiler, it had been tested in November, IS70, by hydraulic pressure 
to 60 pounds per square inch. , 

Both stop valves on this boiler were found to be shut, and the steam-gauge was 
entirely destroyed. 

The safety-valve chest lay on the stoke-hole plates in exactly the position it had 
fallen. It contained two valves, each 5$ inches in diameter, one of which could be 
lifted by means of a screw beneath it, while the other is inclosed aud entirely out of 
the control of t r 'e engineer. The cap over the spindle of the haud-lifti.ig valve was 
carried away, and the top of the spindle broken off. 

The stop-valves being closed, it was evident that none of the steam generated in this 
boiler, from the time the fires were lighted to the time of the explosion, could have 
gone to the engines. It must therefore have been accumulating pressure in the boiler 
all that time, or escaping by the safety-valves. Tue safety-valves were stated to have 
been loaded to 30 pounds per square inch, and the, pressure-gauge was said to have 
beeu observed out of order more than an hour before the explosion occurred. 

It was considered very important to make a minute examination of the remains of 
the safety-valves, to see if there was any evidence of their being jammed or otherwise 
not in working order. The chest was opened in the presence of all the inspectors, and 
there were no such things as wedges, stops, or other means for jamming the valves 
found. Both valve-spindles were found broken and bent, the valves were perfectly 
free in their seats, but the leathers of these valves were battered aud distorted in such 
a manner as to desi roy all evidence of their condition at the time of the explosion. 

If the safety-valves were not jammed or set fast, the boiler must have exploded 
owing to structural weakness ; and in order to ascertain as far as possible whether it 
could have arisen from this cause, the whole of the other boilers, with the exception 
of one small boiler in the forward stoke-hole, were tested by hydraulic pressure to from 
60 pounds to 65 pounds per square inch. They were quite tight, and after being care- 
fully gauged before, during, and after the test, they showed no signs of weakness. 

Strips of plate were cut from the ruptured parts, and tested by the testing-machine 



356 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

in the dock-yard. The iron was found to be above the average strength of iron used 
in boiler-making, the mean results of these experiments showing that it would stand a 
tensile stress of 21 tons per square inch of section. 

As a guide to the pressure which this boiler was capable of bearing, a chamber was 
constructed to represent to some extent the part of the boiler which gave way. From 
its form it did not, iu my opinion, give exact information on that point, seeing that 
the side plates of the uptake, which very materially add to the strength, were omitted, 
and consequently the whole strength of the structure was reduced. It was burst at 
various pressures under four or five different conditions, and although it did not ex- 
actly represent the exploded part of the boiler, the results of these experiments show 
almost with certainty that the pressure within the boiler at the moment of rupture 
could not have been less than 100 pounds per square inch. 

The whole question of the cause of this explosion therefore centers itself upon the 
condition of the safety-valves at the time of the explosion, and as they were so de- 
stroyed by the accident as to make it impossible from their appearance to speak of 
their condition at that time, it was deemed advisable to make an examination of all 
the safety-valves of the other boilers. This examination was made, and they were all 
fouud to be loaded to about 30 pounds per square inch. They were free to move, and 
to all appearance were in a workable condition. 

The feathers of safety-valves made on this principle require to be an easy fit in their 
seats ; if too slack, the rolling of the vessel shifts them on their faces and causes them 
to leak. In this case they appeared to be a good working fit, and it was suggested to 
try them under steam. One of the valve-chests containing two valves was accordingly 
attached to a laud-boiler in the dock-yard. It was found that when steam was raised, 
one of the valves, although loaded to only 30 pounds per square inch and quite free, 
when cold, did not lift until the pressure reached 52 pounds per square inch, but after 
blowing a short time and uniformly heating the cast-iron chest, it rose and fell at 
about the working-pressure. 

This conclusively proved that the expansion of the feathers of the brass valve 
was sufficient to make them grip or set fast, when fitted so close as this valve was 
fitted. 

Although this single valve did stick under this trial, the whole of the others were 
tried afterward under similar conditions and were perfectly free; the experiment 
therefore affords no certain evidence of the exact condition of the safety-valves on the 
exploded boiler at the time of the explosion. But as there can be little doubt of their 
inoperativeness, it can be inferred that had they been a little tighter than the valve 
that was tried and found to stick, or if they had been neglected and scale or dirt 
allowed to get between the working surfaces, the expansion of the valve would have 
caused them to jam or set fast, and allow the pressare to accumulate until it overcame 
the strength of the boiler. 

The facts of the case may be summarized as follows : 

1. The stop-valves were shut, so that the steam generated in the boiler could not 
escape to the engines. 

2. The steam-gauge was discarded as being out of order, and therefore it did not 
make ixuOVvu any abnormal pressure in the boiler. 

3. The fires were burning briskly, and therefore the pressure must have been rapidly 
increasing in the boiler. 

4. The boiler presents unmistakable symptoms that it burst from excessive pressure, 
and not from faulty construction. 

Under these circumstances, I am of opinion that the safety-valves of the boiler in 
question at the time of the explosion were set fast in their seats, and that the cause of 
the explosion was excessive pressure, owing to the stop-valves being shut and there 
being no outlet for the steam which the fires were generating. 

Having, therefore, arrived at this conclusion, I think it my duty to urge the neces- 
sity of the greatest care being taken (1) in the designing of safety-valves, and (2) in the 
absolute necessity of their being frequently examined. There ought to be a certain 
means of preventing any increase of pressure beyond the stipulated amount. 

Since this explosion I have carefully considered this subject, and, with a view to 
reducing the chances of safety-valves sticking or otherwise being inoperative, I would 
suggest — 

1. That the valve with a central guiding-spindle is less liable to set fast by unequal 
expansion than a feather-guided valve. 

2. That the spindles which support the weights of these valves should be detached 
from the valves themselves, or that a guide should be fitted between the valve and 
the weights, so that any inclination of the weights caused by the motion of the vessel 
should nofc tend to cant the valves and make them grip in their seats. 

3. Easing-gear should be fitted to all the valves, and arranged to lift the valves 
themselves. 

4. That all safety-valve spindles should extend through the covers, and be fitted 
with sockets and cross-handles, so arranged that it would be impossible to add any 



EXPLOSION OF THE THUNDERER'S BOILER. 357 

extra weight or to control their action, but at the same time allowing them to be lifted 
and turned round on their seats, and their efficiency tested by the engineer at any time, 
whether the steam is up or not. 

I would, in conclusion, add that loading safety-valves for marine purposes by means 
of dead- weights is now in the merchant service almost entirely superseded by springs. 

WILLIAM PARKER, 
Chief Engineer Surveyor to Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 

(Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 2 White Lion Court, Cornhill, Lon- 
don, August 16, 1376.) 

Of the four several official reports on this explosion the above is given 
as the most practical. 

BOILERS OF THE MERCANTILE MARINE. 

Through the kind attention of the general inspecting engineer of 
Lloyd's, I had the privilege of observing the practice and inspection 
applied to the boilers and machinery of the commercial mariue of Great 
Britain. Steamers were visited after long voyages; some vessels in 
which the machinery and boilers were comparatively new, others having 
boilers in different stages of deterioration, and still others in which the 
machinery was undergoing construction. All that relates to the corro- 
sion of boilers will be found already under that head in this report. 
As to the kind of boilers now employed, no material changes have taken 
place in the last six years, but the old type of box or wagon shaped 
boiler, so familiar to the marine engineer of former days, is no longer 
seen. It is obsolete, reckoned among the inventions of the past, and 
years hence will probably be shown in the South Kensington Patent 
Museum near the marine side-lever engine and numerous other obsolete 
curiosities stored in that interesting institution. 

The pressure of steam carried at the present day on marine boilers 
yaries from 60 to 70 pounds per square inch, and the boilers used to 
generate it have shells either cylindrical or elliptical. More care is exer- 
cised than was formerly considered necessary in the details of construc- 
tion, and better workmanship in fitting and riveting the parts together. 

Composition tubes are being used to a considerable extent where iron 
tubes were formerly employed. Safety-valves, having levers with loaded 
weights attached, have, in consequence of the higher pressures used 
than formerly, and of the difficulty with them, arising from the pitching 
and rolling of the vessel in rough weather, been abandoned, and spring 
safety-valves substituted in all steamers. The valve adopted generally 
for boilers, both of commercial and naval vessels, is known as Adams's. 

In this connection, it may be interesting to quote from Lloyd's Regis- 
ter a section relating to the designing, building, testing, and fittings of 
boilers ; also their formuke for the strength of cylindrical shells of boilers 
and of circular flues or furnaces, and the tests required for boiler plates. 

Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping. 

[Extract from the rules of the society.] 

MACHINERY AND BOILERS OF 8TEAM8HIPS. 

Section 73. With respect to the boilers and machinery, the owners are required to 
submit them to the inspection of the society's engioeei surveyors, who will furnish a 
report to the committee describing their state and condition. * * * The committee 
will thereupon grant a certificate, and insert in the registry-book the notilication 
"Lloyd's MC." (in red), indicating that the boilers and machinery have been inspected 
by the engineer-survey ois, and certified to be in good order and safe working con- 
dition. ******* 



358 

The society's engineer- surveyors are to examine the plans of the boilers, and approve 
of the strengths for the intended working pressure. 

Any great novelty in the construction of the machinery or boilers to be reported to 
the committee. 

The boilers, together with the machinery, to be inspected at different stages of con- 
struction. 

The boilers to be tested by hydraulic pressure in the presence of the surveyor to 
twice the intended working pressure. 

Two safety-valves to be fitted to each boiler ; if common valves are used, their com- 
bined areas to be half a square inch to each square foot of fire-grate surface; if im- 
proved valves are used, their efficiency to be tested under steam in the presence of che 
surveyor, and in all cases set to the working pressure. 

A stop-valve to be fitted, so that each boiler can be worked separately. 

Each boiler to be fitted with a separate steam-gauge, to accurately indicate the 
pressure. 

With a view to insuring better control over all cocks, valves, and pipes connecting 
the engines and boilers with the sea, they are to be fixed as follows, viz : All cocks 
fitted on the plating of steam-vessels to be raised above the level of the stoke-hole 
plates on the turn of the bilge, or attached to Kingston valves of sufficient height to lift 
them up to the level of the stoke-hole plates, so that they can at all times be seen and 
attended to. All discharge-pipes to be, if possible, carried above the deep load-line, 
with discharge- valves fitted on the plating of the vessel. No pipes to be carried 
through the bunkers without properly-constructed wrought-iron casings around them. 
The bilge suction-pipes to be fitted to pump from each hold, and suction-pipes and 
roses to be fitted in the bilges and amidships in the engine-room; these roses to be fitted 
in a convenient place, where they can at all times be accessible ; the cocks and valves 
connecting these pipes to be fixed above the stoke-hole plates. All blow-off cocks to 
be constructed so that the spanner or key can only be fixed or taken off when the cock 
is shut. 

The arrangement of bilge-pumps, bilge-injections, suction and delivery pipes, also 
the non-return valves, to be inspected and approved by the surveyors ; any defective 
arrangement to be reported to the committee. 

Lloyd's formulae for cylindrical shells of boilers. 

51520 X 2 T X C 
D y 6 5 x 100 = W01 ^ m g pressure in pounds. 

(P — ^) X 100 $ percentage of strength of plate at joint 
P ~ \ compared with solid plate. 

(a x N) X 100 ( percentage of strength of rivets compared 
P X T ) with solid plate. 

51520 = tensile strength of iron in pounds per square inch of section. 
T = thickness of plate, in inches. 
D = diameter of inside of shell, in inches. 
6.5 = factor of safety. 
C = less of the two above percentages. 
d = diameter of rivets. 
P = pitch of rivets. 
a = area of section of rivets. 
N = number of rows of rivets in shear. 

Formula for collapsing of circular flues. 

89600 XT 2 

- t w tj — — working pressure in pounds. 

89600 = constant. 

T= thickness of plate, in inches. 

L = length of flue or furnace, in feet. 

D== inside diameter of flue or furnace in inches. 

The stays in the flat surfaces to take up the whole strain, and not to be subjected to 
a greater strain than 5,000 pounds per square inch, calculated from the weakest part 
of the stay or fastening. 



359 

TESTS REQUIRED BY LLOYD'S FOR STEEL PLATES (SIEMENS-MARTIN 
PROCESS) FOR MARINE BOILERS MADE IN 1877. 

Tensile and extension tests. 

1. Strips cut lengthwise or crosswise of the plates, to have an ultimate tensile strength 
of not less than 26 and not exceeding 30 tons per square inch of section, with an 
elongation of 20 per cent, in a length of 8 inches. 

2. A specimen of the riveted longitudinal joint is to be tested and shown to have a 
percentage of strength of, at least, 74 per cent, of the solid plate. Either iron or steel 
rivets may be used. 

Tempering tests. 

1. Strips cut lengthwise of the plate. \\ inches wide, heated uniformly to a low 
■cherry-red and cooled in water of 82" Fahrenheit, must stand bending in a press to a 
ourve of which the inner radius is not greater than one and a half times the thickness 
of the plates tested. A shearing of every plate used in the construction of the fur- 
naces, combustion-chauibers, and tube-plates to be subjected to this tempering test 
with satisfactory results. 

2. The strips are all to be cut in a planing-machine, and to have the sharp edges 
taken off. 

Buckling tests. 

1. It is to be shown by actual experiment that the flat plates with the proposed 
reduction of thickness, stayed in the usual manner, are as strong to resist buckling by 
hydraulic pressure as the ordinary wrought-iron plates. 

The material is to withstand, satisfactorily, the above-mentioned tests. The boilers 
to be constructed under the inspection of the society's engineer surveyors, and when 
completed to be tested in their presence, by hydraulic pressure, to twice the working 
pressure, so as to be entitled to the reduction of 25 per cent, in thickness. 

These extreme tests have been considered desirable in view of this being the first set 
of boilers made of this material ; no doubt, as confidence is gained in the reliability of 
this material, these tests may with safety be modified. 

On the 26th of January, 1878, the following additional conditions were 
issued: 

3. All the holes to be drilled, or if they be punched the plates to be afterward an- 
nealed. 

4. All plates, except those that are in compression, that are dished or flanged, or in 
any way worked in the fire, to be annealed after the operations are completed. 

5. The boilers upon completion to be tested in the presence of one of the society's 
engineer surveyors to not less than twice the intended working pressure. 

EXTRACTS FROM RULES BY WHICH THE SURVEYORS OF THE BOARD OF TRADE ARE 
GUIDED IN THEIR INSPECTION OF BOILERS. 

On flat surfaces the pressure allowed should not exceed 5,000 pounds to each effective 
square inch of sectional area of stay, but if in any case a greater pressure is asked 
where the flat surfaces are stiffened by X or L irons, the mode of stiffening must be 
submitted to the board of trade for their consideration and approval before a greater 
pressure than that mentioned above is allowed for effective sectional area of stay. 

The areas of diagonal stays are found in the following way : Find the area of a 
direct stay needed to support the surface, multiply this area by the length of the diag- 
onal stay, and divide the product by the length of" a line drawn at right angles to the 
surface supported, to the end of the diagonal stay ; the quotient will be the area of the 
diagonal stay required. 

When gusset-stays are used their area should be in excess of that found in the above 
way. 

When the tops of combustion-boxes or other parts of a boiler are supported by solid 
rectangular girders, the following formula, which is used in the board of trade, will be 
useful for finding the working pressure to be allowed ou the girders, assuming that 
they are not subjected to a greater temperature than the ordiuary heat of steam, and in 
the case of combustion-chambers that the ends are fitted to the edges of the tube-plate 
and the back plate of the combustion-box. 

C X d 2 X T 
(W - P) D 'xl = WOrkiDg P re88ure - 



360 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

W = width of combustion-box in inches. 
P = pitch of supporting-bolts in inches. 

D = distance between the girders from center to center in inches. 
L = length of girder in feet. 
d = depth of girder in inches. 
T = thickness of girder in inches. 

C = 500 when the girder is fitted with one supporting-bolt. 
C = 750 when the girder is fitted with two or three supporting-bolts. 
C = 850 when the girder is fitted with four supporting-bolts. 

The working pressure for the supporting-bolts and for the plate between them 
shall be determined by the rule for ordinary stays. 

The pressure on plates forming flat surfaces will be easily found by the following for- 
mula which is used in the board of trade: 

. A — Jl — L = working pressure. 

S — 6 

T = thickness of the plate in sixteenths of an inch. 

;S == surface supported in square inches. 

C = constant according to the following circumstances : 

C === 100 when the plates are not exposed to the impact of heat or flame, and the stays 
are fitted with nuts and washers, the latter being at least three times the diam- 
eter of the stay, and two- thirds the thickness of the plates they cover. 

C = 90 when the plates are not exposed to the impact of heat or flame, and the stays 
are fitted with nuts only. 

C = 60 when the plates are exposed to the impact of heat or flame and steam in con- 
tact with the plates, and the stays fitted with nuts and washers, the latter being 
at least. three times the diameter of the stay, and two- thirds the thickness of Dhe 
plates they cover. 

C = 54 when the plates are exposed to the impact of heat or flame and steam in con- 
tact with the plate, and stays fitted with nuts only. 

C = 80 when the plates are exposed to the impact of heat or flame, with water in con- 
tact with the plates, and the stays screwed into the plate and fitted with nuts. 

C = 60 when the plates are exposed to the impact of heat or flame, with water in con- 
tact with the plate, and the stays screwed into the plate, having the ends riveted 
over to form a substantial head. 

C = 36 when the plates are exposed to the impact of heat or flame, and steam in con- 
tact with the plates, with the stays screwed into the plate, and having the ends 
riveted over to form a substantial head. 

When the riveted ends of the screwed stays are much worn, or when the nuts are 
burned, the constants should be reduced, but the surveyor noust act according to the 
circumstances that present themselves at the time of survey, and it is expected that 
incases where the riveted ends of screwed stays in the combustion-boxes and furnaces 
are found in this state, it will be often necessary to reduce the constant 60 to about 36. 

When cylindrical boilers are made of the best material, with all the rivet-holes 
drilled in place, and all the seams fitted with double butt-straps each of at least f the 
thickness of the plates they cover, and all the seams at least double-riveted, with 
rivets having an allowance of not more than 50 per cent, over the single shear, and 
provided that the boilers have been open to inspection during the whole period of 
construction, then 6 may be used as the factor of safety ; but the boilers must be tested 
by hydraulic pressure to twice the working pressure, in the presence and to the satis- 
faction of the board's surveyors. But when the above conditions are not complied 
with the additions in the following scale must be added to the factor 6, according to 
the circumstances of each case: 

To be added when all the holes are fair and good in the longitudinal seams, 

but drilled out of place after bending. 
To be added when all the holes are fair and good in the longitudinal seams, 

but drilled out of place before bending. 
To be added when all the boles are fair and good in the longitudinal seams, 

but punched after bending instead of drilled. 
To be added when all the holes are fair and good in the longitudinal seams, 

but punched before bending. 
To be added when all the holes are not fair and good in the longitudinal 

seams. 
To be added if the holes are all fair and good in the circumferential seams, 

but drilled out of place after bending. 
To be added if the holes are fair and good in the circumferential seams, 

but drilled before bending. 



A 


.15 


B 


.3 


C 


.3 


D 


.5 


E* 


.75 


F 


.1 


G 


.15 



LLOYD'S TESTS. 



361 



H 


.15 


I 


.2 


J* 


.2 


K 


.2 


L 


.1 


M 


.3 


N 


.15 





.1 


P 


.1 


Q 


.2 


E 


.1 


S 


.1 


T 


.2 


U 


.25 


V 


.3 


w* 


.4 
.4 


Y 


1.65 



To be added if the boles are fair and good in the circumferential seams, 
but punched after bending. 

To be added if the holes are fair and good in the circumferential seams, 
but punched before bending. 

To be added if the holes are not fair and good in the circumferential 
seams. 

To be added if double butt-straps are not fitted to the longitudinal seams, 
and the said seams are lap and double-riveted. 

To be added if double butt-straps are not fitted to the longitudinal seams, 
and the said seams are lap and treble-riveted. 

To be added if only single butt-straps are fitted to the longitudinal seams, 
and the said seams are double-riveted. 

To be added if only single butt-straps are fitted to the longitudinal seams, 
and the said seams are treble-riveted. 

To be added when any description of joint in the longitudinal seams is 
single-riveted. 

To be added if the circumferential seams are fitted with single butt-straps 
and are double-riveted. 

To be added if the circumferential seams are fitted with single butt-straps 
and are single. riveted. 

To be added if tbe circumferential seams are fitted with double butt-straps 
and are single-riveted. 

To be added if the circumferential seams are lap-joints and are double- 
riveted. 

To be added if the circumferential seams are lap-joints and are single- 
riveted. 

To be added when the circumferential seams are lap and the streaks or 
plates are not entirely under or over. 

To be added when the boiler is of such a length as to fire from both ends, 
or is of unusual length, such as flue-boilers; and the circumferential 
seams are fitted as described opposite P, R, and S, but of course when the 
circumferential seams are as described opposite Q and T, V .3 will be- 
come V .4. 

To be added if the seams are not properly crossed. 

To be added when the iron is in any way doubtful, and the surveyor is not 
satisfied that it is of the best quality. 

To be added if the boiler is not open to inspection during the whole period 
of its construction. 



Where marked * the allowance may be increased still further if the workmanship or 
material is very doubtful or very unsatisfactory. 

The strength of the joints is found by the following method : 



(Pitch — diameter of rivets) X 100 



Pitch 

(Area of rivets X No. of rows of rivets) X 100 
Pitch X thickness of plate 



percentage of strength of plate at joint as com- 
pared with the solid plate. 



percentage of strength of rivets as 
compared with the solid plate.t 



Then take iron as equal to 23 tons, and use the smallest of the two percentages as 
the strength of the joint, and adopt the factor of safety as found from the preceding- 
scale : 

51520 X percentage of strength of joint) X twice the thickness of the pla te in inches 
Inside diameter of the boiler in inches X factor of safety [X 10U] 

= pressure to be allowed per square inch on the safety-valves. 

Plates that are drilled in place must be taken apart and the burr taken off, and the 
holes slightly countersunk from the outsides. 

Butt-straps mnst be cut from plates and not from bars, and must be of as good a 
quality as the shell-plates, and for the longitudinal seams must be cut across the fiber. 
The rivet-holes may be punched or drilled when the plates are punched or drilled out 
of place, but when drilled in place must be taken apart and the burr taken off and 
slightly countersunk from the outside. 

When single butt-straps are used, and the rivet-holes in them punched, they must be 
one-eighth thicker than the plates they cover. 

t If the rivets are exposed to double shear, multiply the percentage, as found, by 1.5. 



362 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

The diameter of the rivets must not be less than the thickness of the plates of which 
the shell is made, but it will be found when the plates are thin, or when lap-joints or 
single butt-straps are adopted, that the diameter of the rivets should be in excess of 
the thickness of the plates. 

Dished ends that are not truly hemispherical must be stayed; if they are not theo- 
retically equal in strength to the pressure needed they must be stayed as flat surfaces, 
but if they are theoretically equal in strength to the pressure needed, the stays may 
have a strain of 10.000 pounds per effective square inch of sectional area. 

Surveyors will remember that the strength of a sphere to resist internal pressure is 
double that of a cylinder of the same diameter and thickness. 

All manholes and openings must be stiffened with compensating rings of at least the 
same effective sectional area as the plates cut out, and in no case should the plate-rings 
be less in thickness than the plates to which they are attached. The openings in the 
shells of cylindrical boilers should have their shorter axes placed longitudinally. It 
is very desirable that the compensating -rings around openings in flat surfaces be made 
of l or t iron. 

Circular furnaces with the longitudinal joints welded or made with a butt-strap : 

90000 X the square of the thickness of the plate in inches c working pressure per 

(Length in ieet -j- 1) X diameter in inches \ square inch. 

Without the board's special approval of the plans the pressure is in no case to 
exceed 

8 000 X thickness in inches 
Diameter in inches 

The length to be measured between the rings, if the furnace is made with rings. 

If the longitudinal joints, instead of being butted, are lap-jointed in the ordinary 
way, then 70,000 is to be used instead of 90,000, excepting only where the lap is beveled 
and so made as to give the flues the form of a true circle, when 80,000 may be used. 

When the material or the workmanship is not of the best quality, the constants given 
above must be reduced, that is to say, the 90,000 will become 80,000 ; the 80,000 will 
become 70,000 ; the 70,000 will become 60,000 ; and when neither the material nor 
workmanship are of the best quality, such constants will require to be further reduced, 
according to circumstances and the judgment of the surveyor, as in the case of old 
boilers. One of the conditions of best workmanship must be that the joints are either 
double-riveted with single butt-straps, or single-riveted with double butt-straps, and 
the holes drilled after the bending is done and when in place, and afterward taken 
apart, the burr on the holes taken off, and the holes slightly countersunk from the 
outside. 



FJ^T&T XXIII. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



3G3 



CONCLUSIONS. 



In considering the foregoing report, it has been seen that the modus 
operandi of naval warfare in all European countries has of recent years 
undergone important and radical changes. 

Ships with auxiliary steam-power, in common with their predecessors 
of the sailing period and subsequent paddle-wheelers, are obsolete, and 
wooden vessels of all classes are gradually becoming antiquated, and 
are being relegated to harbor service or abandoned. 

Heavily-armored ships, of great fighting power and considerable 
speed, now constitute the line-of -battle ships of all important naval 
powers. Low free-board non-sea-going armored vessels are provided for 
coast defense, and the modern fleets of cruising vessels of all navies are 
now being constructed of either iron or steel, having their bottoms 
sheathed in wood and covered with copper or zinc, and built with im- 
proved structural disposition of materials to utilize the power of the 
ram and to sustain for a lengthened period the immense engine-power 
necessary for high speeds. 

Again, that ships of a special class, known in England as armed dis- 
patch-vessels, and in France as the rapid type, having a speed of from 
16 to 17 knots per hour at sea, are fast gaining favor. Also, that a 
limited number of small vessels, having large engine power, are being 
built exclusively for projecting the Whitehead self- moving torpedo, and 
armored and unarmored ships are also being fitted with the necessary 
apparatus for using this locomobile or self-moving weapon. 

Finally, that recently-constructed war-vessels of all classes are engiued 
on the compound system. 

Captain Simpson, U. S. N., who, during his official tour abroad, made a 
careful research into the system of artillery employed in European coun- 
tries, has shown in his very able and exhaustive report, Mission to Europe, 
that cast-iron guus are obsolete, and that the ships of all European navies 
are now armed with rilled guns manufactured wholly of steel or of steel 
barrels bound with wrought-iron coils. At the date of that report, 
less than five years ago, the heaviest gun mounted on shipboard in 
Europe was 35 tons in weight, with a 12-iuch caliber. Since that time 
the weight and power have increased up to 100-ton guns, using charges 
of 350 pounds of powder and throwing projectiles of from 2,000 to 2,500 
pounds ; and still heavier guus are likely to be manufactured. With 
these facts and figures before us, we find that our Navy, although in as 
efficient a condition as economical Congresses authorize, lags decidedly 
behind the navies of most other powers, aud, excepting perhaps for 
coast defeuse, is by no means commensurate with the wealth, extent, 
and dignity of the country; and should, unfortunately, the necessity for 
war arise with any considerable power, our real weakness will be ex- 
posed, and we will be placed in a condition of humiliation — a condition 
certainly not to be desired by the people of this great and rapidly-grow- 
ing republic, having large and increasing commercial interests with all 
civilized nations. 

Heretofore we have been the pioneers, and the main features of very 
many of the improvements introduced in European naval warfare owe 

365 



366 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

their origin to American genius. The beautiful outlines of American 
fast-sailing vessels were copied in Europe. The first war-ship propelled 
by the screw was built in Philadelphia. Shell-fire, and subsequently 
heavy guns, were first introduced here. The torpedo is an American 
invention, and the revolving turret for vessels of war originated on this 
continent. It remained for European naval powers, having large appro- 
priations at command, to develop and expand American inventions. The 
ideas for the present powerful mastless sea-going armored ships of the 
English grew out of the visits of our turret- vessel Miantonomoh to Brit- 
ish ports ; and the unarmored fleet of fast ships, of which the Incon- 
stant was the first in Europe, owe their development to the building of 
the Wampanoag. 

During the time of inactivity and comparative non progress in Amer- 
ican naval construction, the work of reconstructing the navy of Great 
Britain has been vigorously pushed forward, and in the effort to make 
it efficient from the modern point of view, there has been no hesitation 
in weeding out vessels of obsolete types ; thus, in the five years ending 
April 1, 1875, no less than eighty-four vessels of obsolete types had 
been disposed of by sale, viz: Twelve screw line-of-battle ships; eight 
screw-frigates; three screw-corvettes; seven screw-sloops; twenty-three 
gun-vessels ; twenty-two sailing-vessels, and nine paddle-wheel steamers ; 
besides which there have been condemned as no longer fit for active serv- 
ice, eight frigates, eight corvettes, nine sloops, and ten gunboats, all 
wooden screw-vessels. 

It has already been seen what kinds of vessels are being added to the 
navy in lieu of the obsolete wooden types, and it is well to remember 
that the new fleet given under the head of unarmored ships do not 
represent the total available force of fast cruisers. The British mer- 
cantile marine is possessed of 4L9 steamers above 1,200 tons and under 
5,000 tons register, very many of which ships have high speeds, and 
some of which can be relied upon for 11 and 15 knots per hour in good 
weather at sea, for seven or eight days consecutively, and they have 
sufficient coal-carryiug capacity. In the event of war any of these 
ships are at the command of the government, and in view of utilizing 
this source of great naval strength, the admiralty have carefully consid- 
ered tbe subject of arming with light rifled guus, and more especially 
with Whitehead torpedoes, such vessels as may be suitable, and in 
order to act understandingly, they have required the builders or owners 
to furnish necessary drawings of their vessels. 

While lamenting the want of superiority in onr individual ships, a 
careful review of the situation briugs home the inevitable conclusion 
that the interregnum with us will in the end result signally to our 
advantage. If, after our civil war, we had gone on building armored 
ships designed for sea-going purposes, each succeeding vessel would 
have been superseded in offensive aud defensive powers by productions 
on the other side of the Atlantic. The result would have been an an- 
tiquated armored fleet, for it has been seen that the power of the gun 
and the weight and thickness of armor have coutinued to increase; 
which, together with additional mechanical appliances, has made each 
succeeding ship built an improvement over preceding types, and even 
yet no law of finality seems to be reached either in regard to the weight 
and power of the gun or the thickness and weight of the armor. With 
the Sheffield Works promising armor-plates of still greater thickness, 
and Herr Krupp and Sir William Armstrong proposing guns of 150 
tons each, it would be unsafe to regard the limit as having been reached, 
and unwise to accept even the last productions as the future types. In 



CONCLUSIONS. 367 

view of the value given to small fast vessels by the invention of the 
self-moviug torpedo and the risks to be encountered from this terrible 
weapon, as well as the ram, it is not probable that hereafter any war- 
vessel will be built larger or as large as those now in process of con- 
struction, but it is reasonable to anticipate heavier guns in less num- 
bers mounted on vessels of smaller dimensions Considering these 
facts and conclusions, the enormous cost and length of time necessary 
to build an armored sea-going ship in this country, and the further fact 
that in Europe the advocates for abandoning armor altogether are 
increasing, any administration may well pause before it sanctions the 
expenditure of three or four millions of dollars for such a vessel. 

Turning now to the policy of maintaining an efficient cruisiug-tieet 
for the police of the seas, for the training of men, for the purpose of ex- 
hibiting the American flag in foreign ports, and especially in harbors of 
semi-barbarous countries where they can scarcely realize the existence 
of a force unless it be visibly present to their gaze, tor the repression 
of piracy and slavery, and for the punishment of offending savage 
tribes, the ship is the distant representative of our national power, and 
it should have no superior of its type belonging to any other country. 
With the view, therefore, of reconstructing and adding to our unar- 
mored fleets, the time is near at hand, if not already present, for reach- 
ing judicious conclusions as to the immediate future types of our vessels. 
We are now at liberty to take advantage of the results of the most ex- 
pensive and exhaustive experiments made by foreign powers in the 
construction of ships, of machinery of various kinds for naval purposes, 
and in the manufacture of weapons. 

To the Europeau view it is strange that the nation which first devised 
and attempted to construct a squadron of powerful, fast, unarmored 
cruisers, has now nothing to match the British Raleigh, Boadicea, and 
Euryalus, or fast cruisers of other countries ; and stranger still, that 
the naval force to which American commerce is obliged to look for pro- 
tection is composed of a small number of corvettes and sloops of very 
moderate speed aud power, mainly of the types and armed with the 
weapons (torpedoes excepted) of the period before our civil war. 

All agree in the necessity for action, but there is a hopeless want of 
unanimity among our officers as to the types that should be built, and 
as the prerogative of deciding questious so important, as well as the 
province of giving shape in detail to designs, belongs to the controlling 
powers, it may not be out of place to suggest that, in considering the 
subject, it will be wise, as before said, to go carefully over the grouud 
covered by possible enemies and take advantage of the results of their 
experience. 

Under the head of British unarmored ships, it may be seen that the 
costly experiment of building the first fast cruisers proved, to say the 
least, unsatisfactory. They were too costly to build, are too unwieldy 
to handle, and are too costly to maintain. 

Again, it may be seen that the French, in their endeavor to outdo the 
English in the element of speed, have fallen into the same general faults 
in building their first two cruisers of the rapid type, the Duquesne and 
Tourville. 

It may also be seen that the Rover is perhaps as small a ship as with 
our present knowledge can be built, to have the speed of fifteen knots 
per hour, to have sufficient structural strength to stand the engine-power 
necessary for this speed, to utilize the power of the ram, to carry suffi- 
cient battery, to have sail-power, to be provided with machinery for 



368 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

ejecting torpedoes, and to possess all necessary requirements for keep- 
ing the sea. 

Lessons can therefore be drawn from these practical illustrations. 

Considering now our immediate future wants, two classes described 
and illustrated under the head of British unarmored ships, viz, the 
Rover and Garnet, approach the size and type of cruising-vessels desir- 
able to possess. Besides which, we need vessels of the rapid type in 
which offensive and defensive capacity must be sacrificed for the express 
purpose of obtaining what heavily-armed vessels do not possess, extreme 
speed. This type must have exquisite lines, fine entrance, clear run, 
the exceptional engine-power of nearly two horses to every ton of dis- 
placement, and great structural strength of hull combined with lightness 
of material. 

By trade and commerce we grow to be a rich and powerful people, 
and by their decay we would grow poor and impotent ; and as trade and 
commerce enrich, so they fortify our country. To the American Con- 
gress commercial interests must look for the encouragement afforded by 
naval protection. 



PABT XXIY 

APPENDIX. 



EOYAL NAVAL COLLEGE AT GREENWICH. 

REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION OF ENGINEER STUDENTS; 
OBSERVATIONS; RANK, PAY, ETC. 

NAVAL MODELS AT GREENWICH. 

SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS AT THE SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM; 
CONSERVATOIRE DES ARTS ET METIERS. 



24 K 



3G9 



ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE AT GREENWICH. 



By invitation of Vice-Admiral Sir A. Cooper Key, K. 0. B., F. R. S.,* 
the distinguished officer in charge of the college, I visited that institu- 
tion, and through his personal kind attention I received the privilege of 
observing tbe details of instruction in all departments and branches, 
and had the system of education fully explained. This establishment 
stands ou the south bank of the river Thames, six miles below London 
Bridge, on the site of the old royal palace in which Henry VIII. was 
born. The present buildings consist of four masses, forming an archi- 
tectural group unparalleled in modern England. They were erected 
under the reigns of different sovereigns, and are known respectively as 
King Charles's, King William's, Queen Anne's, and Queen Mary's. The 
first was erected in 1665 and occupied as a palace. Other buildings, 
additions, aud reconstructions followed in 1667, 1669, 1712, 17:10, 1750, 
1769, 1789, and 1811. Except the originals and the last, they were the 
work of the celebrated architect Sir Christopher Wren. It was after 
the battle of La Hogue, in 1691, that the buildings were prepared as a 
hospital, and subsequently became the asylum for the old and disabled 
seamen of the royal navy. They were used for this purpose until about 
six years ago, when the government decided to abolish the system of 
providing a home for their old seamen, and in lieu thereof to grant them 
liberal pensions, and to permit every man entitled to its benefits to live 
with his family or elsewhere, to suit his own convenience. 

It was after the buildiugs were vacated as an asylum, that the Queen, 
by her order in council dated January 16, 1873, sanctioned the founding 
of a royal naval college at Greenwich. To meet the new requirements, 
each building was, when necessary, internally altered; but no external 
alterations or additions were permitted. 

The site with its terrace, 860 feet long, by the river, is attractive, and 
the location is advantageous in many respects. The buildings are com- 
modious, the several departments admirably arranged and fitted for 
utility and comfort. The college is provided with chemical and physical 
laboratories, instruments, and appliances embodying the latest improve- 
ments, and on a scale which their lordships state has hitherto not been 
possible in any naval establishment. In fitting and equipping this im- 
portant school, cost has not been considered. The expenditures under 
the direction of the president for the alterations of buildiugs internally, 
outfits and appliances of all kinds, during the first year, amounted to 
the sum of $408,210. 

For the management of the college there is nominally a governor, who 
is first lord of the admiralty and an M. P.; a president, who is a vice- 
admiral, assisted by a captain in the navy in matters affecting discipline, 
&c, unconnected with study ; and there is a director of studies (a civil- 
ian), under the president, who superintends the whole system of instruc 
tion and the various courses of study. 

There are two naval officers, instructors in nautical astronomy and 
navigation; two naval instructors, corresponding to our professors of 

*Now in command of the North America and West Indies Station. 

371 



372 

mathematics; and four engineer officers, instructors in steam, in marine 
engineering, and applied mechanics. The remaining members of the 
staff of instructors, twenty in number, are civilians, and most of them 
are distinguished scientific professors. Besides the above named, there 
is one medical officer and one storekeeper, who also acts as cashier. 
The president, his assistant, and secretary reside in the building ; all 
instructors reside outside the walls. 

All officers known in our service as line officers are in the British navy 
denominated executive officers. They are appointed at an early age and 
placed on board training-ships as naval cadets. It is not intended to 
provide at Greenwich for the education of these cadets. The naval col- 
lege is fitted in every respect for the education of officers of all ranks 
above that of midshipman, in all branches of theoretical and scientific 
study bearing upon their profession ; and it is stated that while every 
possible advantage in respect to scientific education will be given, no 
arrangement will be allowed in any manner prejudicing the all-impor- 
tant practical training in the active duties of the profession. It is after 
the cadets have been passed to acting sub lieutenants and acting navi- 
gating sub-lieutenants that they enter the college for final instruction 
and graduation. The college is also open, under limitations, to all exec- 
utive officers below flag rank, to improve or prepare for promotion. It 
is at this college that all the officers of the engineering branch of the 
royal navy are now and are hereafter to be graduated. To this corps 
of officers my attention was especially invited, and I propose to give par- 
ticulars relating to this branch only. 

The college was opened February 1, 1873, to sub-lieutenants and gun- 
nery lieutenants, and on the 1st of October following it was opened to 
officers of the engineering branch. The institution is therefore in its 
infancy. Its foundation is, however, laid, looking to a great future, as 
the fountain from which are to emanate the officers who are to construct 
and to control all the ships, all the dock-yards, and all the naval opera- 
tions of the most powerful navy in the world. It was as early as 1811 
that the British Government commenced to encourage the instruction 
of naval architects in a primary school at the Portsmouth dock-yard ; 
but this school had a brief existence. A second school was by order 
of the admiralty opened in the same dock-yard in 1818 ; and as a result 
of the instruction given here, a number of able scientists were turned 
out, among them Mr. Isaac Watts and Mr. E. J. Reed, both of whom 
became chief constructors of the navy. 

Subsequently four schools were established for the purpose of pre- 
paring students as assistant engineers for the navy. These schools are 
still in existence at the dock-yards of Chatham, Portsmouth, Sheerness, 
and Devonport. Finally, the South Kensington School of [Naval Archi- 
tecture was opened to the most meritorious graduates of the students 
from the dock-yard schools. But it was only when the Boyal Naval 
College at Greenwich was opened, that the admiralty decided systemat- 
ically to strengthen and improve the engineering branch, by raising the 
standard of education to a degree previously unknown to that class of 
officers. It was accordingly determined, January 30, 1873, and anuounced 
by regulation, that thereafter all engineer students who successfully 
passed through the six years' course at the dock-yards would be sent to 
the Greenwich college for a period of study, and none are now appointed 
to vessels uutil passed by the director of studies at Greenwich. 

The following regulations will give a clear understanding of the sys- 
tem of entrance and instruction at the dock-yards. The system of 
instruction and examination at the naval college was submitted to the 
department by me for our Naval Academy at the beginning of 1876 : 



ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE AT GREENWICH. 373 

Admiralty, June 8, 1877. 
B g tlations for admission of engineer students in Her Uajestifs dock-yards. 

My lords commissioners of the admiralty are pleased to direct that the following 
regulations for the admission of engineer students in Her Majesty's dock-yards shall be 
substituted for those now in force. 

2. Vacancies for appointments as engineer students in the dock-yards are open to 
public competition. The dock-yard at which engineer students are entered each year 
will be fixed by their lordships. 

3. The list of candidates for these appointments will be kept at the admiralty in 
London. All applications for the forms to be filled up by persons who wish to com- 
pete, must be addressed to the secretary of the admiralty before the 1st of March in each 
year. Such applications should state the place at which the candidate desires to be 
examined. 

4. Candidates must not be less than fourteen nor more than sixteen years of age on 
the first day of the examiuation. Proof of age will be required by the production of a 
certificate of birth, or by declaration before a magistrate. Evidence of respectability 
and good character must also be produced. All candidates must be children of British 
subjects. 

5. Candidates are to understand clearly that they will be first required to satisfy the 
admiralty as regards their age, respectability, good character, and physical fitness, be- 
fore they can be eligible for entry into the dock-yard ; and if these conditions are satis- 
factory, "they will then be examined by the civil-service commissioners in educational 
subjects. 

6. Candidates in or near London will be medically examined by the medical director- 
general of the navy at the admiralty. Those residing near one of Her Majesty's dock- 
yards, or one of the first-reserve ships, will be examined by the medical officers at- 
tached thereto. 

7. The examination will commence on the first Tuesday in May in each year, and 
will be held by the civil-service commissioners in London, Liverpool, Portsmouth, 
Devouport, Bristol, Leeds, Xewcastle-on-Tyne, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dub- 
lin, Belfast, and Cork. 

8. The following will be the subjects of examination, and the maximum number ot 
marks for each subject : 

* Arithmetic , 300 

English : 

* Writing from dictation 100 

* Composition 100 

Grammar 150 

350 

French : 

Translation into English 100 

Grammar 50 

150 

Geography 100 

Algebra (up to and including quadratic equations) 300 

Geometry (the subjects of the first six books of EuclicVs Elements) 300 

Totd 1,500 

Candidates will also be tested as to their ability to read aloud with clearness, dis- 
tinctness, and accuracy, and without hesitation. Stammering, or any imperfection of 
utterance, will be regarded as a disqualification. 

9. Candidates who fail to pass in the first three subjects (those marked with an aster- 
isk), or in reading aloud, will be disqualified, and their other papers will not be exam- 
ined. The candidates who display a competent knowledge of all those subjects, and 
who obtain not less than 750 marks in the aggregate, will be classed in one general 
list in order of merit, according to the number of marks gained, and will be eligible for 
appointment as engineer students in one of the dock-yards, according to the number of 
appointments which it may be decided to make that year. 

10. The successful candidates will be entered as engineer students before the 1st of 
July in each year, and must join with their parents or guardians in a bond for £300 to 
enter, if required, into Her Majesty's naval service as assistant engineers, if at the ex- 
piration of their training they should obtain certificates of good conduct and efficiency 
for admission in that capacity. 

11. The parents or guardians of all engineer students admitted in future, will be re- 
quired to pay the sum of £25 a year for each student during the first three years of 
his training. 

12. The first payment of £25 is to be made before the student is enterel in the 



374 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

yard, and the second and third payments of £25 each are to be made on or before the 
30th day of June in each of the two succeeding years. The payments are to be made 
to the cashier of the yard to which the student is appointed. In case of failure of pay- 
ment the student will be discharged. 

13. Board and lodging will be provided for engineer students, and they will be 
required to reside in one of the dock-yards.* 

14. The weekly pay of engineer students during their training will be as follows, pro- 
vided they are well reported on by the officers : 

First year One shilling a week. 

Second year Two shillings a week. 

Third year Three shillings a week. 

Fourth year Five shillings a week. 

Fifth year Eight shillings a week. 

Sixth year «. Ten shillings a week. 

15. Engineer students will be under the supervision of the captain of the steam 
reserve and a staff of competent officers, and subject to such rules and regulations as 
their lordships may deem necessary. 

16. Special regulations will be made for engineer students in the dock-yards, so as to 
make a distinction between them and the workmen. 

17. Engineer students will remain for six years at one of the dock-yards for practical 
training in the workshops, and to receive instruction in iron-ship building. They will 
attend the dock-yard schools for such periods, and to pursue such studies as may from 
time to time be determined on ; they will also pass a portion of their time in the draw- 
ing-office. Means will be afforded them of acquiring the groundwork of the knowl- 
edge required by a naval engineer respecting the working of marine engines and 
boilers, including those repairs which can be carried out afloat, the practical use of the 
various instruments used in the engine-room, including the indicator, and of becoming 
generally acquainted with the duties of a naval engineer. 

, 18. Engineer students will be examined once a year under the direction of the presi- 
dent of the Royal Naval College. They will be examined by the engineer officers of 
the admiralty at the end of the fourth, fifth, and sixth years of their service as to their 
practical acquirements and knowledge of steam-machinery. Two prizes will be given 
annually at each dock-yard to the engineer students most highly reported on as regards 
their skill as workmen. Practical engineering will be considered an essential subject 
at examinations, and in the lists showing the results of the examinations, the num- 
bers obtained in practical subjects will be shown distinct from those obtained in edu- 
cational subjects. No engineer student will be granted a qualifying certificate for 
admission at the Royal Naval College unless he obtains at least 50 per cent, of the 
total number of marks for practical engineering on his final examination. 

Admission into the college. 

19. The examination of the sixth year students is to be held in time to allow the 
result to be known by the 1st of July in each year, and it will include tests of their 
skill as workmen. Those found qualified will, on the completion of their term of serv- 
ice at the dock-yards, proceed to the Royal Naval College, at Greenwich, as acting as- 
sistant engineers on probation on the 1st of October succeeding the examination, where 
they will pass through a course of higher instruction during one term. 

20. Those engineer students who fail to pass the examination at the end of their six 
years' service will be allowed to remain one year longer at the dock-yards, and will then 
be re-examined, when, if they are unable to pass, they will cease to be eligible for the 
rank of naval engineer. The pay of a student during such year of probation will be 
the same as during the sixth year. 

21. Engineer students will not be admitted as acting assistant engineers until they 
have been pronounced fit for Her Majesty's service by the medical officers, and have 
learned to swim. 

22. Acting assistant engineers will be provided with quarters while at Greenwich. 
During their first term they will be paid 6s. a day and Is. 6d. a day toward the mess ex- 

*As a place of residence at Portsmouth for the students, the old line-of-battle ship 
Marlborough has been fitted up. The ship has undergone a complete transformation, 
all the machinery and bulkheads having been removed, and gas and water introduced 
throughout. Dormitories supplied with iron bedsteads and other fixtures, a dining- 
room, kitchen, class-room, study and library have been provided. The accommoda- 
tions are sufficient for one hundred students, forty-one having been entered January 
1, 1878, and the remaining fifty-nine vacaucies will be competed for in May next. 
Cabins have been built under the poop for a chief engineer and two assistants who 
will, under the admiral superintendent, be intrusted with the discipline of the students 
when on board, their professional education being provided for in the dock-yard. 



ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE AT GREENWICH. 375 

penses. Those selected for farther study will receive their full pay and Is. 6d. a day 
toward the mess. 

23. The term for study at Greenwich will be from the 1st of October to the 30th of 
June following. All will be examined under the direction of the president of the 
Royal Naval College on the completion of their term at Greenwich, and will receive 
certificates according to their merit, in three classes. Those who obtain first-class cer- 
tificates will receive commissions dated the same day as their acting appointments. 
Those who obtain second-class certificates will receive commissions dated six months 
after the date of their acting appointments, and those who obtain third-class certificates 
will receive commissions dated, the day after their discharge from the Royal Naval Col- 
lege. The additional time given for first-class certificates and second-class certificates 
will reckon in all respects as time served as assistant engineers. 

24. Two assistant engineers will be selected annually from those who take the high- 
est place at the examination on the completion of their term at Greenwich, to pass 
through a further course of scientific instruction if they desire it. These two will be 
allowed to remain two more terms at Greenwich, on the completion of which they will 
be sent to sea as assistant engineers, and after one year's service at sea, they will be 
considered eligible to fill positions in the dock-yards and at the admiralty. 

25. Those passing the second and third terms at Greenwich will be attached during 
the vacations between the 30th of June and 1st of October, to the dock-yards or steam 
reserves, where they will attend trials of new and repaired engines, and obtain experi- 
ence respecting the duties they will have to perform at sea. 

26. No assistant engineer who has passed three terms at Greenwich will be allowed 
to leave Her Majesty's service within seven years of the completion of his term at 
Greenwich, unless he shall pay the sum of £500 to defray the charges of his education. 
Such resignation to be subject in each case to their lordships' approval. 

The number of students for the mechanical branch entered at the 
Greenwich Koyal College in the first three years was 137, including 
those — 24 in number — transferred from the South Kensington school ; 
this institution having ceased to exist when Greenwich opened. 

Of the foreign students permitted to enjoy the benefits of this excel- 
lent college, there were in 1876 three Bussians, two Italians, two Danes, 
one Spaniard, one Norwegian, and one Brazilian \ all studying engi- 
neering and naval architecture, under the rules and laws of the institu- 
tion. 

It will be observed from the foregoing regulations that the system of 
education provided for the British royal naval engineers is as follows : 

1st. They are received into the dock -yards between the ages of four- 
teen and sixteen, by public competition, after evidence is produced of 
respectability and good character. 

2d. They are required to serve six years in these yards, during which 
time they are employed for stated periods in the several branches of the 
engineering factories, on board ships, on the hulls of ships, and in the 
draughting rooms. While occupied in this practical training, they are 
superintended by competent leading men, under the directions of the 
factory officers. They are also required to attend the dock-yard schools 
on appointed afternoons and in the evenings for theoretical instruction. 
They are examined regularly, and those who do not make satisfactory 
progress are dismissed. At the end of the fourth, fifth, and sixth years 
they are examined by the engineer officers at the admiralty, as well as 
by the dock-yard officers and instructors, and all those who pass satis- 
factory examinations at the end of six years, and are found qualified, 
are appointed acting assistant engineers and entered at Greenwich Col- 
lege on the 1st of October succeeding the examination. 

3d. All assistant engineers are required to serve one collegiate term 
at Greenwich, on the completion of which they are examined and re- 
ceive certificates in three classes. But two out of the whole class of 
each year who take the highest honors may optionally pass through a 
second and a third collegiate course. It will thus be seen that the 
greatest number of assistant engineers receive seven years' government 



376 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

instruction before entering on the duties for which they have been edu- 
cated, and that two are graduated after nine years' instruction. These 
long-term graduates are required to go to sea for one year only, after 
which they are eligible for positions at the admiralty and in the dock- 
yards. The training and education are most thorough and complete, 
and it is believed that from the number graduated some constructing 
engineers of marked ability will be developed. The college is also open 
to engineer officers in the service who have not had the advantage of 
study at Greenwich or South Kensington, but, as with executive officers, 
the number that can be annually admitted is limited. These officers 
remain one term, and a small number may elect by permission to re- 
main a second term for study. Their pay while at the college is the 
same as when at sea, with Is. 6d. each toward the mess. If this ad- 
vantage could be granted the passed and assistant engineers of our 
Navy, of a term of study at the Naval Academy before examination for 
promotion, it would result in much good to the service. 

All the students reside in the college except the higher grades, who 
are permitted to reside in the town. 

France, Germany,* and other continental countries have also govern- 
ment schools for the education of cadet engineers, but there is no sys- 
tem of instruction for this class of officers so thoroughly practical and 
scientific as that of the English. 

EANK, PAY, ETC., OF ROYAL NAVAL ENGINEERS. 

In the autumn of 1875, the lords commissioners of the admiralty ap- 
pointed a committee or board, consisting of Vice- Admiral Sir A. Cooper 
Key, K. G. B., F. E. S., Captain Sir John E. Commerell, K. C. B., Cap- 
tain W. M. Dowell, K. N., C. B., the engineer-in-chief of the navy, and 
a chief inspector of machinery, royal navy, to investigate the claims of 
the royal naval engineers for increased rank, pay, &c. This committee 
was in session in London for several months, carefully taking testimony, 
all of which was printed in like manner with the proceedings of a mili- 
tary court. The result of their investigations may be found in the 
report submitted to the admiralty in March, 1876. The first recom- 
mendation reads as follows : 

" Engineer officers for the future to be executive offioers, [i. e., line 
officers], but not to command." Increased rank and pay were recom- 
mended ; also increased encouragement to retire. 

The pay and position of the engineers of the royal navy have re- 
cently been attracting considerable attention in England. The well- 
known author, Hon. E. J. Eeed, ex-chief constructor of the British 
navy, and now member of Parliament, in articles to the press suggests 
radical changes. He says : 

It is at least a plausible view that we must look to those upon whom the manage- 
ment of the navy as a fighting machine most nearly depends, for the most valuable as- 
sistance. A ship of war is now a machine of the greatest intricacy, set to work 
mainly, if not exclusively, by the power of steam ; it is a steam being, and the man 
who understands it, can work it with safety, can control it efficiently, can use it, pre- 
serve it, repair it, renew it, is the engineer. 

The London Times, in a leader commenting on Mr. Beed's letters, says: 

Every one who wants to be informed of the condition of the navy, and to obtain an 
opinion on the value of any proposed changes in the design and arrangement of our 

* The German school for the education of naval engineers is at Kiel. It is divided 
into four classes. The instruction comprises machinery, mathematics, mechanics, 
physics, chemistry, and the English and French languages. 



ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE AT GREENWICH. 377 

ships, takes counsel of the engineers among the foremost ; and if the admiralty and 
Parliament would get from the service itself the most trustworthy views of naval 
policy, they must consent to make the fullest recognition of the value and importance 
of the functions of the engineers. 

And adds: 

.Mr. Reed is altogether right in insisting that it is a matter of prime interest for 
England that the class [corps] of naval engineers should be raised to a level corre- 
sponding to the greatness of their present trust, and to the weight of their enlarged 
responsibilities. 

NAVAL MODELS AT GREENWICH. 

The models of the vessels of the British navy for many years were not 
open to the general public. They were kept in a room at the admiralty, 
Somerset House, and afterward removed to the South Kensington Mu- 
seum. On the establishment of the naval college at Greenwich, in 1873, 
it was determined that they should be sent there for the purpose of being 
easily accessible to the students. At Greenwich they are exhibited to 
great advantage and admirably arranged in a building which for gener- 
ations has been associated with the British navy, and they are within 
easy reach of the classes most interested in the objects of the exhibition. 
The subject of study here presented is exceedingly interesting to persons 
desiring to be informed of the history of naval construction, for here can 
be seen the models of the vessels of the British navy from its earliest 
time, step by step, down to the present period. Here are seen the suc- 
cessive development of wooden sailing-vessels from the earliest war 
period to the date of the introduction of steam; the first paddle-wheel 
steamer and the subsequent changes in form of this kind of vessel ; the 
first screw-vessel, with the changes that followed the introduction of 
motive power in that form ; the first iron vessel ; the first iron-clad or 
armored ship, and the still later type of fast iron vessel sheathed in 
wood. 

It is believed that the first ship in the royal navy was built in the 
reign of Henry VII., but the first man-of-war of respectable size, as 
shown by the models, was the Great Harry, or, as she was at first called, 
the Henri Grace a Dieu, laid down by Henry VII. in 1512, and launched 
June, 1514. It was under this sovereign that the British navy was 
established. He not only built the first man-of-war, but also founded 
the three royal dock-yards at Portsmouth, Woolwich, and Deptford ; 
and at the close of his reign there were fifty-eight ships in the navy, of 
an aggregate tonnage of 12,000. The tonnage of the Great Harry is 
stated at 1,000, but the dimensions are not precisely known. She had 
much top-hamper, and history says that, notwithstanding her crank- 
ness, she performed good service, and was ultimately burned accident- 
ally at Woolwich in 1553. In the same case with the Great Harry is a 
model of another remarkable ship, The Sovereign of the Seas. She was 
built in 1637. Upon comparing the models of the two ships, one is im- 
pressed with the improvement effected in a hundred years. The Royal 
William, of which there are two models, one full-rigged, representing 
her as originally built in 1670; the other, showing her as altered in 1692, 
is a better exemplification of the ships of the seventeenth century than 
is the Royal Sovereign. 

The Royal Sovereign was the first ship in the British navy with three 
decks. She was afterward cut down, and, it is said, did good service. 
She was destroyed by accidental fire at Chatham in 1695. The next 
model is that of the notable Britannia, of 100 guns and 1,700 tons, 



378 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

built in 1682. These ships of the seventeenth century furnished the 
type for line-of-battle ships for nearly a century and a half, and the 
earliest designs are noticeable as having considerable sheer, the effect of 
which was further increased by the fact of there being in the after part 
of the ship two decks more than amidships. There are models of two 
foreign ships in this room, the Commerce de Marseilles, a French vessel 
of 120 guns, captured at Toulon in 1793 ; and the Salvador del Mnndo, 
captured from the Spaniards in 1797. They are both models of ships 
superior to those of the English of the same date. The second room 
contains the models of a few famous ships ; among others that of the 
first Victory, built in 1737, and lost seven years after in the English 
Channel, with her admiral, officers, and crew of 1,000 men. There is 
also the Royal George, famous as having capsized in dock, " with all her 
crew complete," in 1782.* On the walls there are large numbers of half- 
models of frigates captured from the French and Spaniards. 

Among the later vessels noticed, whose class will soon only be rep- 
resented by the models in the Royal Museum, are the screw line-of-battle 
ships Royal Albert and Hotve; the former launched at Woolwich in 1854, 
and the latter at Pembroke in 1860. The armament of the Howe con- 
sisted of 121 guns, and her complement of crew was intended to be 1,130 
men, but she never made a cruise, and it is not probable she will ever 
be sent out of the harbor of Devonport, where she now lies. 

Going back a little, to the introduction of steam, the first steamer 
built in the British navy is represented by a model of a paddle-wheeler 
called the Gulnare, a name afterward changed to Gleaner. She was 
launched at Chatham in 1833, was 120 feet long, 23 feet 3 inches broad, 
and drew 13 feet of water. Two years previous to this, however, a small 
purchased steamer, the Black Eagle, carrying one gun, was employed in 
the navy. The first screw- vessel was the Divarf, the next was the Rattler, 
both small vessels, built immediately after the successful adaptation of 
the screw-propeller to the Princeton in our own Xavy. The first war 
screw-ship is represented by a model of the Sans Pareil, of 80 guns, or- 
dered in 1848 as a sailing-vessel, altered and launched in 1851 as a screw- 
ship, eight years after our screw-sloop Princeton was built, and four or 
five years after the French admiralty had sent out the Napoleon. 

The first iron vessels are represented by the Jackal and the Simoom, 
both still in commission ; the former built in 1844, and the latter, as a 
war steam-frigate, in 1849. Here may be found reason for comment on 
the wisdom of naval authorities. It was only about as late as the year 
1840 that wise and distinguished old admirals were invited to witness 
the performance of a little screw- vessel on the Thames, with the view 
to the introduction of the screw into the navy, They inspected its per- 
formance, and reported the screw-propeller unsuitable for war-vessels. 
Again, the Simoom, the first iron war-ship built, was pronounced by the 
board of admiralty to be unfit for war purposes in consequence of the 
material of which the hull was composed, and as a result they altered 
her into a troop-ship. Thirty years after this short-sighted decision the 
Simoom is still sound and doing good service; all the first-rates are built 
of iron, and all naval vessels are propelled by the same instrument — the 
screw — pronounced uusuited for war-vessels by the officers of the sail- 
ing period. While citing the Simoom as proof of the durability of iron 
vessels, it is not out of place to mention the troop-ship Himalaya, of 
3,453 tons, B. M. This iron vessel, built about 1850, and purchased by 

* It was at Spithead that the Eoyal George capsized. — An English Naval Archi- 
tect. 



ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE AT GREENWICH. 379 

the admiralty, in July, 1854, at a cost of $631,800, has seen about 
twenty-eight years' work, and is still sound in hull and serviceable. 

We come next to the collection of models of iron-clad ships. The 
Eussian war brought into existence the use of armor on the seas. Three 
floating batteries, built by the French, silenced the forts at Kinburn. 
They were named the Lave, Tonnante, and the Devastation. There are 
no models of these in the museum, but there is one of the English bat- 
teries subsequently built and used against the Eussian forts. 

The model of the Warrior, the first British armored ship, is to be 
seen, and the various types that followed her are represented. 

In the upper rooms are seen illustrations of the old and new systems 
of construction of men-of-war, materials and equipments of various 
kinds, and a full-rigged model of Nelson's Victory, the original being still 
preserved and doing duty as a guard-ship at Portsmouth. In a sepa- 
rate room there is also a large model showing the stations of the ships 
at the battle of Trafalgar. 

The above brief outline of models has been drawn up simply as being 
of historic interest, and on account of the lessons for students to be 
derived therefrom. 

Several visits were also made to the collection of models of naval 
vessels, &c, at the Louvre in Paris. There is here seen a succinct his- 
tory of naval construction in the French service from its earliest period 
to the present time, but no useful purpose would be served by enteriug 
into details of them. 

THE EXHIBITION OF SCIENTIFIC APPABATU8 AT THE 
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM, LONDON, 1876. 

England does not possess a patent office furnished with models like 
ours in Washington. Patentees have only to deposit complete draw- 
ings and descriptions of their inventions. These are to be found at the 
Free Library, Chancery Lane. There is, however, an interesting per- 
manent collection of original machines, instruments, &c, at the South 
Kensington Museum, where besides, of late years, an annual interna- 
tional exhibition took place, of inventions, productions, manufactures, 
&c, of more interest to the curious public at large than to mechanics 
and scientific men. In the beginning of 1875, however, it was deter- 
mined to step out of the beaten track and to do something of a really 
scientific nature. Consequently, it was resolved to form a loan collec- 
tion of scientific apparatus, which was to include not only apparatus of 
all kinds for investigation, but also such as possessed historic interest 
on account of the persons by whom, or the researches in which, they 
had been employed. It was at first intended to devote only a small space 
in the museum to this collection, which was not expected to be a large 
one. The idea, however, found such favor with scientific men, both in 
England and other countries, that it was soon apparent that some build- 
ing much larger must be provided. Consequently, the galleries of the 
horticultural gardens of the international buildings were obtained. A 
general committee was formed in January, 1875, consisting of more than 
one hundred of the leading men of science in England, and including 
the presidents of all the learned and scientific bodies. At their first 
meeting it was decided to divide the whole exhibition into the five fol- 
lowing sections, viz : Mechanics, including pure and applied mathemat- 
ics ; physics; chemistry, including metallurgy, geology and mineralogy; 
geography, and biology. As soon as the programme had been definitely 
settled, steps were taken to interest foreign countries in the matter, and 



380 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

men of science in nearly all European countries were invited to join the 
general committee, and also to form special sub-committees to further 
the due representation of science of their respective countries ) all of 
which was promptly responded to. 

The exhibition was opened in May, 1876, and was known as the "Loan 
Collection of Scientific Apparatus." It was doubtless the most extensive 
and best collection of the kind ever seen. By mechanics, professional 
and scientific men, food for study and thought could be found there for 
all spare time. 

Entering at the door nearest the Kensington Museum for a general 
survey in methodical order, the educational collection is the first reached. 
Here Germany and Kussia divide the palm, England being completely 
distanced. The most general collection is that contributed by the com- 
mittee of the Pedagogical Museum of Kussia, which indicates most 
clearly that in no country is the value of scientific instruction more 
appreciated than in Russia. 

On leaving the educational collections, the most notable objects on 
the right and left respectively are Stephenson's "Rocket" and "Puffing 
Billy," lent by the commissioners of patents. The next objects on the 
left and right were then exhibited for the first time in England. They 
were a steam-cylinder by Papin, bearing the date 1699, sent over from 
the Royal Museum of Cassel; and a collection of Watt's original models 
of various parts of steam-engines, contributed by Mr. Hamilton. The 
steam-cylinder, which was made at Cassel, is almost the only remaining 
witness of the works of Papin, from which a series of inventions has 
sprung, which have completely changed in a few decades our modes of 
life. How exactly Papin knew the importance of his idea of employing 
steam as a motive power is clearly demonstrated by his writings. They 
contain the invention of the piston steam-engine and its application to 
steam- vessels. The cylinder exhibited, undoubtedly the first ever made, 
was to be employed for a steam-engine of peculiar construction, with 
which a canal connecting Karlshafen with Cassel, on the summit of 
Hofgeismar, was to be supplied with water. The model of the pumping- 
machine was completed, and some parts of the machinery cast at Yeck- 
erhagen, when a machine, by meansof which he was making experiments 
on throwing bomb-shells by steam, exploded in Papin's laboratory, and 
he was obliged to take to flight. 

Newcomen's engine and Captain Savery's engine also found places 
here, as did Bramah's first hydraulic press. Mr. Bennett Woodcroft 
contributed a large number of models, and the Royal Mining Academy 
at Berlin and the School of Mines vied with each other in their collec- 
tions of instruments to aid in teaching. In the series of rooms devoted 
to naval architecture and marine engineerng, the first object on the 
left, was a model of the Faraday, and, after a long line of the other 
models, we came, in the next room, to Mr. Froude's apparatus, illus- 
trating his method of ascertaining the resistance of ships by meas- 
uring the resistance of their models. This method is now used for 
British naval vessels, and experiments have shown that the results ob- 
tained with the models accord very closely with those obtained from the 
ship itself; so that the admiralty is no longer obliged to make experi- 
ments with the ships themselves. It had never before been exhibited 
except to those who have been privileged to see Mr. Froude's labora- 
tory at Torquay. The London Times thus describes the manner of 
making the experiments : 

We may state that the models, from 6 feet to 16 feet in length, are made of hard 
paraffine; the experimental apparatus employed in workiug the model includes ap- 



THE KENSINGTON MUSEUM. 381 

pliances for designing, molding, and casting the models, shaping them by automatic 
machinery, moving them through the water at the required speeds, and automatically 
recording the leading phenomena of the trial — namely, the speed, the resistance, and 
the change of level induced hy the speed at each end of the model. When the model 
exactly represents the lines of the ship the form of which has to be studied, it is put 
into a tank and connected with a dynamometric truck, which runs on a railway about 
200 feet in length, suspended over a water-way 36 feet wide and 10 feet deep. The 
model floating in the water is, as it were, " harnessed " to the truck and travels with 
it. The towing strain — i. e., the force necessary to make the model accompany the 
truck in its longitudinal progress — is taken during the experiment by a spiral spring, 
the extension of which, measuring the towing force, is indicated on a large scale by 
a pen on a recording cylinder. The recording cylinder is driven by the truck-wheels, 
and thus its circumferential travel indicates distance run ; at the same time another 
pen, jerked at half-second intervals by a clock, records time. Other pens actuated by 
strings led over pulleys record the change of level of the ends of the model. Thus 
the diagrams made furnish an exact measure of the speed and a continuous record of 
the resistances and of the change of level of the model throughout the experimental 
run at steady speed. The truck is connected by a wire rope with a winding-drum, 
driven by a small stationary double-cylinder steam-engine. 

The contributions of two other men, famous, the one in mechanical 
arts, the other in science, have been described as follows :* 

Sir Joseph Whitworth has contributed a collection * * of measuring-instru- 
ments of the most perfect accuracy of workmanship. Among them is a machine for 
measuring thicknesses up to one ten-thousandth of an inch ; and, wonder greater still, 
also a machine on the same principle, by means of which a distance of one millionth 
of an inch can be made perceptible. The latter had never previously been shown any- 
where. The collection also includes specimens of the true plane surface, which, as Sir 
J. Whitworth insists, is the only means of obtaining perfect power of accurate meas- 
uremen t. 

To the scientific man, if not to the general public, the most interesting objects in an 
exhibition of this kind are the actual instruments by which celebrated investigators 
have discovered the truths with which their name is associated. Of this nature is the 
apparatus we have here, by which Dr. Joule ascertained the mechanical equivalent of 
heat, or, in other words, the actual work which a given quantity of heat would ac- 
complish. The two forms of apparatus exhibited are vastly like vertical churns, and 
the process employed by Joule consisted in churning water till its temperature was 
thereby raised, and carefully noting the exact rise of temperature and the amount of 
work performed. 

To the eyes of mechanical engineers, the exhibition acquired a new 
value in the exceedingly interesting collection of original steam-engines, 
commencing with the production of Papin, the very first of which we 
have knowledge (and referred to elsewhere in this description), pass- 
ing through various stages of progression, and culminating in the last 
type of compound engines introduced into the ships of the British royal 
navy. This collection of historic machines was placed mainly in the 
room set apart for applied mechanics. Many of them were moved from 
their usual dingy resting-places in the patent museum, and are historic- 
ally, at least, familiar to American engineers who visit South Kensing- 
ton. They represent the brain-work of the men who laid the very 
foundation of our profession — quaint old constructions, but which, in 
semblance or reality, have been the friends of all our generation of en- 
gineers since their boyhood. 

Papin's cylinder is a really notable memorial of that genius to whom 
we owe so much (for the piston was also introduced by him), and who 
died at last penniless and unfortunate in England. Not far from Pa- 
pin's cylinder stood a model of the engine of his more fortunate suc- 
cessor, Newcomen ; it is dated 1705, and is said to have been made by 
the inventor, and by him presented to King George III. It is now the 
property of King's College, London, is beautifully made, and is in ad- 
mirable preservation. Being in all probability the only authenticated 

* Irom the London Times. 



382 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC 



example of Neweomen's own handiwork in existence, it must be looked 
upon as possessing much interest. At the back of the case which con- 
tained this model huug a print which represents the steam engine near 
Dudley Castle, invented by Captain Savery and Newcomen, executed by 
the latter in 1712. Here was seen the engine of Savery, made in 1718, 
and used to raise water in the garden of Peter the Great, Emperor of 
Russia; also the little engine used in the University of Glasgow in 1765, 
which James Watt was employed to repair, and from which he con- 
ceived the idea of the separate condenser that subsequently identified 
his name with the steam-engine all over the civilized world. 

Passing across the street to the patent museum, we find the original 
old Cornish pumping-engine made by Kewcomen and Cawley, which 
was in operation at Mr. Boulton's Works, Soho, near Birmingham, and 
to which Watt in 1777 applied for the first time his separate condenser 
and air-pump; also his first sun and planet engine, erected at Soho in 
1788. Returning to the loan exhibition, we found models to illustrate 
mechanism proposed by Watt; notable among these were a Bell pumping- 
engine, and an engine with a T-euded beam, having two separate con- 
necting-rods, and intended for driving the shafting of two separate 
mills. There were a number of modifications of the sun and planet gear, 
including one in which the connecting-rod carries an elliptical annular 
wheel. There was also a model representing the improvements carried 
out by James Watt in the steam-engine ; they are as follows : 

1st. Making the engine double-acting. 

2d. Steam-jacketing the cylinder. 

3d. The separate air-pump and condenser. 

4th. The parallel motion. 

5th. The D slide-valve. 

6th. The governor. 

A machine which excited very considerable interest was the little 
engine made by William Symington, for driving the now historic pleas- 
ure-boat of Mr. Miller on his lake at Dalswiuton. It has two vertical 
single-acting cylinders (of brass), standing side by side, their piston- 
rods attached to the two ends of a long chain carried around a central 
pulley (above aud between the cylinders), around two more pulleys 
which were upon the shafts of the two paddle-wheels, and further, by 
means of guide-pulleys, along the whole length of the engine, in one 
piece. The pistons, which are about 4 inches in diameter and 15 inches 
in stroke, are single-acting, and work alternately, the whole chain being 
pulled first in one direction and then in the other. By means of a clutch 
arrangement the paddle-shafts receive motion from it in one direction 
only. The valves are worked by a plug-rod driven by a chain from the 
central pulley. This queer contrivance, the li parent of modern steam 
navigation," was finished in 1788, aud drove the little pleasure-boat 
(25 feet long and 7 feet broad) on which it was placed, at the rate of 
five miles an hour. 

Among the other exhibits of historic interest temporarily in this sec- 
tion may be mentioned two models of Stirling's air-engine, made by the 
inventor, and belonging to the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow 
respectively; the original model of Trevithick's locomotive, lent by Mr. 
Woodcroft ; a very old model of Savery's engine, lent by the council of 
King's College; a sketch made in 1842, by Mr. William Howe, of the 
link-motion, together with a little rough wooden model of it made soon 
after; a set of light models of Brunei's celebrated block-making ma- 
chinery, lent from the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, and which has 
been at work in the Portsmouth dock-yard for upward of forty years; 



THE KENSINGTON MUSEUM. 383 

also a model of Cugnot's steam-carriage (1769), which succeeded a cen- 
tury ago in carrying four passengers at the rate of 2£ miles an hour, in 
stages of from twelve to fiiteeu minutes; this was lent by the Conserva- 
toire des Arts et Metiers. 

We come next to the engine of the Comet, made by Henry Bell, and 
remarkable as being the first steamboat in Europe advertised for the 
conveyance of passengers. It was completed in January, 1812, and on 
the oth of August of the same year Bell issued a circular announcing 
that his vessel would run on the Clyde between Glasgow and Greenock. 
The Comet was of 30 tons burden, 42 feet long and 14 feet wide. The 
engine was estimated at four horse-power. It is compactly arranged, 
but, as a matter of fact, it is not so well suited to the propulsion of a 
boat as Symington's engine in the Charlotte Dundas, which was built in 
1803. Bell's engine has undergone various vicissitudes, having been 
once at the bottom of the sea ; it was eventually used for blowing a 
smith's fire in Glasgow, where it was discovered by Mr. Napier, who 
purchased it and presented it to the commissioners of patents. In the 
department of the exhibition devoted to naval architecture there was a 
small model of the Comet, said to be correct. The original vessel was 
wrecked off the West Highland coast, and the second Comet met a simi- 
lar fate by collision with the steamer Ayr. 

Americans will remember that the first application of steam to navi- 
gation which showed evidences of success was made on the Delaware 
Eiver, in 1788, by John Fitch. The boat was 60 feet long, 8 feet wide, 
and 4 feet deep. The project was not successful, and it was left to Ful- 
ton to carry out the idea.* 

We next reached historical locomotives, beginning with Trevithick's 
model. Trevithick's claim to be considered the inventor or originator 
of the locomotive is based upon his patent taken out in conjunction with 
Vivian in 1802. The model in question had been contributed for exhibi- 
tion by Mr. Woodcroft, and had been for some years in the South Ken- 
sington Museum. Although this machine was not adapted to run on 
rails, it is obvious that only the substitution of a pair of wheels for a 
single one is necessary to enable it to do so. It is a matter of history 
that Trevithick made a locomotive which, in February, 1804, drew a 
train of five trucks, carrying ten tons of iron and seventy men, nine 
miles in five hours. This was atPenydaran, South Wales, over an iron 
tramway with inclines of 1 in 50 ; and the exploit indubitably proved 
that the friction between ordinary smooth rails and similar driving- 
wheels was sufficient to effect propulsion. This engine continued to 
work for five mouths. 

*The first patents granted by the United States for the propulsion of boats by steam 
were issued to John Fitch, of Philadelphia, and to James Rumsey, of Pennsylvania, 
August 26, 1791. 

In 1804 and 1805 John Stevens, of Hoboken, N. J., built a boat and steam-engine 
with a single-screw propeller, and a second with twin screws, and worked them suc- 
cessfully. Subsequently he built the paddle-wheel boat P fornix, and sent her from 
New York to Philadelphia by sea. She was the first steamer on the ocean, and was 
for some years employed on the Delaware. 

Fulton's first experiments w r ere made on the Seine, at Paris, in 1803, with a paddle- 
boat 60 feet long. It was unsuccessful. In 1807 he launched the Clermont on the East 
River, New York. This vessel was about 132 feet long and 18 feet wide, fitted with a 
Boultou & Watt engine, and propelled by paddles. She made regular trips between 
New York and Albany. He built several other steamers, and in 1811 he constructed at 
Pittsburgh the first steamer that navigated the Western waters. To him more than to 
any other one man is due the credit of the introduction of steam navigation. 

The first voyage made across the ocean by a steam-vessel was that of the Savannah, of 
300 tons burden, in 1819. She sailed from New York to Liverpool, thence to St. Peters- 
burg, and returned in safety. This voyage created a great sensation. In 1838 the 
6teamer Sirius crossed the Atlantic, and the Great Western began to make regular trips. 



384 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

We came next to the Wylam engine, which had been removed for ex- 
hibition from the patent-office museum. It appeared to far greater ad- 
vantage in its temporary position than it did in its permanent home. It 
was built at Wylam, about 1813, from the designs of William Hedley, 
and forms a most interesting link in the history of the locomotive. 
Under the name of "Puffing Billy," or, as some have it, "Puffing 
Dilly," it was at work on a colliery-line almost uninterruptedly from the 
above date until June, 1862. The word " dilly," we may mention, is well 
known in the north of England in the sense of a carriage, and is said 
by Hallowell, in his dictionary of archaic words, to be derived from the 
French diligence. 

The next is the "Sans Pareil," constructed by Timothy Hackworth of 
Darlington, in 1829, to compete in the trials on the Liverpool and Man- 
chester Kailway. This is followed by Stephenson's first locomotive, the 
" Rocket," also made in 1829 to compete on the Liverpool and Manches- 
ter Eailway. This locomotive, unlike all which preceded it, has outside 
inclined cylinders, the connecting-rods being connected directly to the 
driving-wheels. The boiler is horizontal. In fact, the system originated 
by Stephenson is that employed at the present day, though, it is needless 
to say, vastly improved upon. This original locomotive took the prize 
and laid the foundation for the fame and fortune of the Stephenson 
family. Among the many old machines and instruments of peculiar in- 
terest in the patent museum, is the first screw-propeller that was applied 
to a vessel of war in Europe. It is made of gun-metal ; is a two-bladed 
true screw, 10 feet 1 inch in diameter, with 11 feet pitch ; has a length 
on the shaft of 18 inches, and is correctly proportioned. This screw 
was made for and was used to propel the British war-steamer Rattler, 
from the time that vessel was built, in 1843, until she was broken up. 
So perfect is the construction of this simple true screw, that in the 
thousands made since then, in the numerous patents that have been 
granted for screw-propellers, and in the volumes that have been written 
on the subject, scarcely any improvement has been effected.* 

Leaving these curious and interesting specimens of historic engines 
and instruments, we came to models in steel and iron of engines of 
modern date. Here were found, in glass cases, models of a number of 
the engines of the ships of the British royal navy. They consisted of 
those in the Monarch and Prince Albert, by Messrs. Humphrys, Tennant 
& Co. ; of the Nelson, Conqueror, and Tamar, by Messrs. Ravenhill & 
Co. ; a fine collection by Messrs. Maudslay, Sons & Field, consisting of 
those in the Agincourt, Prince Consort, Caledonia, and Ocean; and last, 
the model, beautifully executed, of the compound engines of the Boadi- 
cea and Bacchante, by Messrs. J. &. E. Rennie. All of these several 
types of engines are so well known that descriptions are needless. 

The next interesting subject for inspection was the collection of models 
of war and mercantile vessels of various types, among which were no- 
ticed not only models of ships built for the British navy and merchant 
marine, but also of ships built for the navies of Germany, Russia, 
Spain, Turkey, Holland, Brazil, and other nations. 

* Captain Ericsson instituted experiments with his screw-propeller vessel Francis £• 
Ogden, on the Thames, in 1836. His second screw-vessel, the Robert F. Stockton, was 
launched on the Mersey in 1838 and crossed to the United States in 1839. He afterward 
huilt the Enterprise, and designed the machinery for the first screw-propeller ship of 
war floated on the ocean. This was the Princeton, built in Philadelphia in 1842. She 
was in continuous commission from 1843 until 1849. In 1847 she crossed the Atlantic, 
being the first screw war-steamer that made the passage. She cruised for two years in 
the Mediterranean, and was visited by thousands of persons curious to see the propel- 
ling power. She returned to Boston in 1849, the writer being one of the officers on 
board. 



THE KENSINGTON MUSEUM. 385 

The brief outline of the machines, mechanical appliances, &c, above 
noted, seemed desirable to be given as a matter of historical interest, 
principally to the engineering profession. 

Prolessor Edward 8. Holden, (J. S. N., who was detailed by the Depart- 
ment to inspect and study the astronomical instruments, &c, of the 
exhibition, has, in his able and instructive report on the subject, printed 
with the report of the honorable Secretary of the Navy and accompany- 
ing documents for 1876, given much valuable information that may be 
used to the advantage of our government. 

CONSERVATOIRE DES A.RTS ET METIERS. 

To the engineer this is one of the most interesting institutions of 
Paris, or, indeed, of France. Several visits of observation and study were 
made to its wonderful collection of models, which have been gathered 
from all directions, and which represent every department of industry. 
Among them are many specimens of early engineering j the original 
looms of Vaucanson and Jacquard are preserved here in the Salle des Fi- 
latures, and in other departments are almost equally interesting relics. 

M. Tresca, the sub-director, has a mechanical laboratory in which are 
many of the larger objects belonging to the institution, but it is mainly 
occupied by apparatus for testing the efficiency of machinery and with 
illustrative models driven by power. 

This great school has been liberally aided by the government and its 
growth has been gradual, but now its collection is unexampled in extent 
and completeness. 

Professor R. H. Thurston, A. M., 0. E., late an engineer officer, United 
States Navy, made several visits to it, and in his able and instructive 
report, as a member of the scientific commission of the United States to 
the International Exposition held at Vienna, 1873, gives the following 
account of its history : 

Descartes, the distinguished philosopher, is claimed to have been the earliest to pro- 
pose public instruction for working-people.* He x>roposed to build a large lecture- 
hall lor each trade, annexing to each a cabinet containing the apparatus appropriate 
to that department, and to place each of these lecture-rooms in cnarge of a prolessor 
familiar with the subject there to be taught, who should present to the students the 
principles of his art in proper form, and wlio should be capable of answering the ques- 
tions addressed him by his pupils in relation to all details of practice. 

It was a century later, however, that this project of Descartes took shape, and the 
actual commencement ol the work is attributed to the great mechanic, Vaucanson. 

This distinguished man, previous to 1775, had gathered together, at V Hotel de Mon- 
tague, the first collection ol machinery and apparatus which was ever devoted to pub- 
he use in the manner proposed by Descartes. At his death, Vaucanson bequeathed 
this collection to the state, and it tlius became the germ of this splendid institution 
which is now so famous. 

M. de Vandermonde, the first director, added five hundred machines to the collection 
between 1785 and 1792. 

In 1793 a "commission temporaire des arts" was formed, by decree of the Convention 
Nationale, consisting of MM. Vandermonde, J. P. Leroy, Conte, Beuvelot, Molard, 
l'Abbe Gregoire, ana the celebrated physician, Charles. This commission did a noble 
work in collecting valuable apparatus and models, and in preserving them from injury 
during the riots and the turmoil of that sad period in French history. 

By a decree of the convention it was soon after ordered that a "conservatoire des arts 
et me'tiers, un depot public de machines, modeles, outils, dessim" <fec, should be established, 
and that three " demonstrateiirs" ana a designer snould be employed. After some de- 
lays the new institution was established in tne old priory of ISaint-Martin-des-Champs. 

The school has experienced the vicissitudes always to be anticipated in such cases ; 

* The Marquis of Worcester, the distinguished inventor of one of the earlier forms 
of steam-engine, two hundred years ago, earnestly urged the establishment of a dehn- 
itely -arranged system of technical education, which should combine instruction in 
science and in its useful application in the arts. 

5k 



386 EUROPEAN SHIPS OF WAR, ETC. 

but its collections have never ceased growing, and its field has been extended by the 
addition of new departments and the establishment of new professorships, until it now 
has a faculty of fifteen members. 

Many of the most noted French savants have been members of its councils or of its 
faculty. Thenard, Charles, Darcet, Dupin, Say, Clement, Berthollet, Chaptal, Gay- 
Lussac, Arago, Pouillet, Poncelet, Morin, Tresca, Ollivier, Becquerel, Payen, Peligot, 
Moll, Alcan, and others have all been, or are at present, on the list. 



Note. — For valuable assistance in preparing the foregoing report, I 
am indebted to Chief Engineer Frederick G. McKean, United States 
Navy, attached to the Bureau of Steam-Engineering ; for prompt atten- 
tion at the Government Printing Office, credit is due to the intelligent 
foreman, Major A. H. S. Davis ; and for distinctness and uniformity, 
the illustrations by Mr. W. F. Merrill, of Maiden, Mass., speak for them- 
selves. 

O 



